Walk By the Shore
by Nik-sama
Summary: Ever since Kairi was a child, her dream was to perform on stage. But her mother died on stage. Everyone thinks Kairi is crazy, yet she gets accepted and joins the stage. And then, she meets a boy. What is the true purpose behind all of this? SoraxKairi
1. Chapter 1: Home Alone

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy _

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_**Author's Note: **__Well, let's see here. This is my very first fanfic evah! *claps* I am so proud of myself. XD Anyways, please don't be too harsh on my stories, yet give me some criticism about it in the reviews. I truly do want to get better at it all. Thank ya! :D _

_- __**Nix**_

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**Walk by the Shore**

_Chapter 1: Home Alone_

(Started: March 24th/Finished: March 25th)

I walked into my room and turned on the light. I sighed and walked straight over to my bed, only to fall on it when I reached it.

"I wasn't able to make the audition again this year," I said to myself. I had missed it once again, only to be later yelled by Akemi-sama for being tardy. The auditions always end when I seem to walk straight into that room, giving Akemi-sama more reason to yell at me.

A tear trickled down my face. It's been my life long dream to perform on a stage to make people happy and filled with entertainment. And _**Mika Lights Stage**_ was just the place to do such a thing. It's basically like a circus, a play, and a ballet all put into one. And what I wanted to do most is perform on the trapeze, but that will never happen, obviously.

I sat up in my bed, looking straight ahead at my posters on the wall. All of the posters at that section of the room were entirely of Mika Lights Stage cast. Akemi-sama was there with her magnificent partner, Zack-sama, the diva Miss Lenne was singing, the rest of the crew performing, and last but not least, the stage itself. Alone. It was a beautiful sight to see.

"To bad I'll never be able to perform on it," I said. "Every year I am always knocked down. Guess I should just give up on hope." I sat in bed, thinking to myself. _'There is no possible way they would ever accept me,'_ I thought. I sighed, knowing I was a failure. Just then, the sound of my phone ringing filled the room. I walked over to it and answered. "Hello?" I heard a soft voice, a man's voice.

"Miss Kairi?" came the voice. I nodded.

"Hai?" I answered. The man cleared his throat.

"I heard that you were going to audition for Mika Lights Stage?" he asked. I nodded once again.

"That is correct, sir."

"We were bewildered by your performance, but your tardiness kept you down. And I believe that than can be improved," the man answered. I stared at the wall in confusion. _'That can be improved? What? Where's he getting at?'_

"Sir?" I asked him. The man coughed before he answered.

"I would like to tell our new cast member that she was accepted, if she would accept it herself." I starred at the wall with my mouth wide open. I know I wasn't talking to the wall, I was just starring at it. I know, I weird. The man waited for me to reply. I still didn't say a word. "Hmm," he sighed. "Well then, I guess you do not accept then. I'll just be getting on then-" the man trailed off.

"Wait!" I yelled.

"Hmm?" the man asked in curiosity.

"I do accept," I managed to say. The man chuckled.

"Well then, I expect to see you at the stage by this weekend at the stage. We already paid for your airline ticket, so no need to worry about that. Also, you'll be living in Los Angeles, over here, so you'll be transferring schools. You're a junior, right?"

"Yes sir!" I answered with firmness in my voice.

"Good, good. You'll work out nicely on the stage. We've already given the schools the transfer slip. The only thing you need to do is come on over here and move into the dorms. The school you'll be going to is _**Spira High**_, got it?"

"Yes sir! Oh, by the way… may I ask you your name sir?" I asked. He laughed at the question.

"My name is Mr. Katagowa," he answered. I perked up and put a smile on my face.

"What time should I be at the airport, Mr. Katagowa?"

"By 3 P.M. tomorrow. It's a three days flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles. We want you there by Saturday, alright?" he asked.

"Yes sir!" I answered, gaining more confidence.

"Good then. I'll be letting you go now. I have a few things to do and they decided not to wait. Goodbye and have a nice night," Mr. Katagowa said.

"You too. Goodbye." I gently hung up the phone and started jumping up and down on my bed. _'I'm finally going to __**Mika Lights Stage**__!'_ I thought. "This is going to be great! Woaahhhh!!!!-" I fell off my bed and landed on the floor. I started laughing at my stupidity. "By tomorrow, I'll be free," I said to myself s a smile wiped onto my face. "Man, am I glad I am home alone!"

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_**Author's Note: **__W00T! I finally got the first chapter to my fanfic done. :D It's kind of bad, but hey, it's not corny like Ka-chan's fanfics are. XD_

_**Ka-chan: **__Ne-chan! My stories are NOT corny!**  
Nix:**__ They are in my world.**  
Ka-chan: **__*growls***  
Nix: **__What?**  
Ka-chan:**__ I'm getting Kadaj! *runs off***  
Nix: **__Pfft! Whatever flat chest. ;P Anyways… first fanfic ever. And better than-**  
Ka-chan: **__Is NOT!**  
Nix:**__ Yeah, yeah. To tell you the truth, I got this idea from a TV show I used to watch. Kaliedo Star. But I'm only basing the stage off of tat, not the entire thing. So I'm not copying, I only wanted to make mine a bit more interesting. That's all.**  
Ka-chan: **__Oh yeah?! I used a romantic fireworks show in mine. *sticks out tongue***  
Nix: **__Boring!**  
Ka-chan: **__*growls loudly***  
Nix: **__And that concludes this conflict. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to run away from flat chest now. Bye! *runs away***  
Ka-chan: **__It's not flat chest, Flat Foot!!!!!! I'm gonna get you Flat Foot!!!!_


	2. Chapter 2: Tension and Ice

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy._

_**Kadaj: **__What if you did?**  
Nik-chan: **__Then I'd make you die sooner so Ka-chan can die! :D**  
Kadaj: **__You're mean, Nik-chan. I'm so glad I couldn't fall in love with a flat foot.**  
Nik-chan: **__Yet you'd fall in love with a flat chest?**  
Ka-chan: **__Hey!**  
Nik-chan: **__As I said before, me no own KH or FF! :o_

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_**Author's Note:**__ Woopah! (Yes, Ka-chan. I said your phrase. *evil grin*) Second chapter is done! :D Didn't take too much thinking though. XD I have a few more ideas to use, but I know that eventually, I will get writer's block and run out. So when that time comes (you'll know cause I'll broadcast it in here. XD) and you have an idea, feel free to post it in a review and I'll see to it. ^_^ Also makes me feel like you are actually paying attention. XD But if you read a little bit that leads to the dorms, you'll get quite a shock coming from me. And no, it's not the make-over that I mean. That is SO totally me. XD_

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**Walk by the Shore **

_Chapter 2: Tension and Ice_

(Started: March 26th/Finished: --)

I stared out the window of the plan as we started to land in the airport. _'I'm finally here!'_ I thought to myself.

After I got my luggage, I stepped off the plane and looked around the city. It was so big, even bigger than it was last time, if that's even possible. I took out my guide book, and opened it. Then I slapped myself in the forehead.

"Wait! I know where the stage is. I've already been there 4 times." I put the guide book back into my suitcase and made my way down the long streets. And with every step I took, I brought in the excitement and the smell of the city as I walked down the streets. It was amazing. I originally lived in Tokyo, but even I was amazed at everything. It's also a pretty good thing I had brushed up on my English for the past 4 years.

After what seemed like an hour, I finally stood at the entrance to the stage. It was so magnificent, and I would finally be able to perform on it. Man oh man, was I excited. I stepped over to the door and opened it, and as I walked in, no one was there.

"Oh, right! The others must be practicing," I said. "Mr. Katagowa reminded me of that." So, I began my journey down the endless halls until I reached the owner's office. I was a little nervous at first, but then I finally knocked.

"Come in," said Mr. Katagowa. I opened the door to find a young man, probably in his late 20's. He had Spiky, blonde hair and had blue eyes (And no, it's not Cloud. XD). "Welcome to Mika Lights Stage. I see you had no problem finding your way here," Mr. Katagowa said.

"Nope! Not a problem sir!" I answered. _'How could I have a problem? I've been here 4 times already.'_ I thought while still keeping a smile on my face. Mr. Katagowa nodded.

"Good, good. Hold on a sec and I'll get you a key to your dorm," and with saying that, he went behind his desk and vanished. I looked around his room and spotted a plaque. It read:

**WORLD CHAMPION TRAPEZE ARTIST OF 2005 - **

**MR. AURON KATAGOWA**

(Yep! I gave Auron a make-over. XD)

My jaw dropped. _'_That's _the legendary trapeze artist? I never knew it was _him_. Oh well, maybe I can ask him for his autograph,'_ I snickered in my head. Mr. Katagowa stood up holding a key in his hands. "Here you are. You will be in room 503. Make sure you knock though. You might have roommates."

I walked over and took the key from Mr. Katagowa, smiling and thanking him while doing so. "Oh! By the way, the crew is on a one week vacation. It started just yesterday. Since Christmas is coming up, we gave them a week's vacation ahead of time. And on Christmas, we'll be releasing a show just for the Holiday. I wanted you to get here ahead of time while on vacation, since you aren't experienced a whole lot. So for 3 hours a day, starting at 6 A.M. tomorrow, you'll be heading to the practice room. Don't worry, you'll have an instructor to help you. And if you need anything, you can ask either me or any of the crew, alright?" I straightened up to look proud.

"Hai!" I replied. (_N/E: Hai means 'Yes' in Japanese._)

"Then, you are dismissed. Go to your dorm and get settled in. On Monday, you'll be going to Spira High. There are other students who live in the dorms, so make friends with them and you'll know what to do," Mr. Katagowa said. I smiled and nodded, then made my way over to the dorms.

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I walked along the dorm rooms, examining the numbers.

"499, 500, 501, 502 and… 503!" I stopped at the door to the dorm room. I almost entered, but then I remembered what Auron had said. _'Knock before you enter. You never know if you have roommates or not.'_ I slightly raised my hand and made a gentle knock.

"Come in!" yelled a voice which I recognized to be a girl's. I opened the door to find a young girl, who also seemed to be in her early twenties. She had blazing black hair with brown and blue streaks flowing from the top of her head; which in fact I was jealous of her beautiful hair. She was tall and slender, wearing a white cammy with mini-short denim shorts. (_N/E: A cammy is like a spaghetti-string tank-top that you wear underneath your clothes. Usually has a built in bra.)_ Wow, that's a mouthful. She was carrying a square basket filled with folded clothes. She smiled at me and she put the basket on a clear table. She walked over to me and held out her hand to shake. I grabbed it as she shook it.

"You must be Kairi. Hi, I'm Rinoa, you're new roommate," she said. My jaw nearly dropped twenty feet.

"_Thee_ Rinoa?! _Thee _Rinoa Heartily?! _Thee_ famous trapeze artist who is siblings with Zack-sama?! _Thee_ Rinoa which I idolize so much?!" Rinoa giggled and nodded.

"Yes, I am _that_ Rinoa," Rinoa answered. I was almost ready to faint.

"I've been a huge fan ever since I was five when I first saw you play as Odette from _Swan Lake_! You played her so perfectly! I am honored to meet you face to face!" Rinoa smiled once more at me.

"I messed up a few times though, and Akemi sure did chew my head off." I laughed as she did too. "But even Akemi and I are friends. Took me awhile to become friends with her too." We both laughed, but then stopped as Rinoa came over and took my bag. "Here, let me help you." I nodded.

"Thank you," I said as she walked through the surprisingly big dorm. We walked through 3 big rooms to get to the bedroom. Two beds were against two different walls. Rinoa walked over to the bed to the right and laid my suitcase on it.

"Here you go. You can use that dresser at the foot of your bed. Once you get unpacked and settled in, I'll give you a small tour of the dorm and then over to the stage, kay?" I nodded at Rinoa smiling.

"Arigatou," I replied while sitting down beside my suitcase. (_N/E: Arigatou means 'Thank You' in Japanese._) Rinoa winked at me and left without a trace. I fell back on my bed, arms eagle spread. _'I already found a friend, and it's once of my idols! This is going to be great!'_ I thought to myself. I quickly unpacked my suitcase and put everything away. Rinoa gave me a very quick tour of the dorm and then we were off to the stage.

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"Say Rinoa?" I asked.

"Hai?" answered Rinoa.

"What made you want to join Mika Lights Stage?" I asked her. Rinoa gave a small chuckle.

"Simple. I wanted to see a smile on everyone's face and performing seemed to be one of the best ways. Plus, I've always dreamt of being able to perform on such a stage. Then one year, I received a chance to actually let my dream come true," Rinoa answered as we walked down through the halls. We had just finished the tour, but Rinoa still had to show me to the practice room, which was where we were going. "And what about you?" she asked. I looked down at the floor as we walked on through the halls.

"Well… I too have always wanted to perform on such a stage, but every year, I ended up being late for the auditions. And Akemi-sama has always turned me down. I also want to see smiles on every face and my dream is to make a conflict-free stage, where everything goes as planned," I answered. Rinoa nodded in improvement.

"But you do know that conflict-free stage is almost nearly impossible, right?" Rinoa told me.

"Well, it isn't _completely_ impossible, so I think that if I can get better, I'll be able to make my dream true," I answered. Rinoa put her hand on my shoulder.

"Then, I'll support you. And when you get enough capability of performing on stage, I'll even accept you as my partner," Rinoa said while winking at me. I stopped dead in my tracks and stared up at Rinoa. I was over-filling in joy. Rinoa-sama wanted me to be her partner when I was able to perform on stage like a star.

"Rinoa-sama!" I jumped and hugged Rinoa. I swear I thought she turned purple. "I promise I'll work hard and do my best with everything! Arigatou, arigatou, arigatou, arigatou, arigatou!" Rinoa laughed as she finally got me to not cling to her.

"Just have confidence and you'll be there in no time," Rinoa told me. I nodded and smiled. _'I will make Rinoa my partner. I must!'_ I told myself in my head.

"Giving the amateurs confidence again, I presume?" Rinoa turned her head to face a woman and a man. The woman was tall and had a dirty-blonde color to her hair. She was in a white leotard with blue ballet slippers on. Over her leotard, she wore a white denim jacket. Next to her was a tall man. He had spiky, black hair and looked like he had just worked out over time. He was wearing a white shirt and tan pants though."

"Akemi. Should have known you'd still be here." Rinoa walked over to her friend and gave her a high-five. Then she stared at the man. "Geez, Zack. Don't work yourself out too much." Zack looked at Rinoa.

"I'm not. I do the same all the time. What's wrong?" Zack asked. Rinoa shook her head.

"What? Can't I joke around with my own brother?" laughed Rinoa as she gently punched Zack in the arm. Akemi looked over at me and I froze. _'Meeting three of my idols in one day? Pinch me, I must be dreaming!'_

"So, this is the newcomer, eh?" Akemi asked. Rinoa looked over at me and nodded.

"Yep. That's Kairi. She just came in today." Rinoa glanced at me giving me the 'Say-something-or-look-like-a-complete-baka-by-not-doing-so' look. (_N/E: Baka is 'idiot' in Japanese._) I suddenly stood up straightly.

"Hai! I am very glad to meet you both." I bowed just to be formal. And as surprised as I was, or not, Akemi made a slight sound.

"There is no need for formalities," she said in an 'oh-so-snotty' voice. I looked up to see she wasn't interested. I knew it. She still held a grudge against me.

"You know, if I was able to talk with Auron, you would never even be here," Akemi said to me. I couldn't move for some reason. _'Akemi-sama was insulting me, yet I am surprised. Why?' _"It was wrong for you to come here."

"Akemi! Why do you have to be so rude?" snapped Zack. Whoa! Zack was standing up for me. Man, what a hunk! Wait! Geez, Kairi. Stop getting off the focus. Zack looked at me. "What's so wrong about her? You haven't even seen her perform or anything, so there's no need to judge, alright?" Akemi pffted. (Yes. I _NOW_ made that a word. XD)

"But I have seen her timing. She was late for every single audition. Why should I even give her a chance if she's going to be late all the time?" Akemi argued. That's where I snapped.

"I can show you what I am made of! So please, please! Give me a chance. I beg of you!" I couldn't hold it any longer. I had to let her know what I had to say. Akemi rolled her eyes.

"Do whatever you like. But I'm warning you, if you mess up, you'll be out of here. Got it?" And with that, Akemi walked past me and Rinoa, not even waiting for a reply. Zack followed her and gave me a smile. I felt reassured because I knew that he'd try to convince her to give me a chance. Rinoa sighed.

"Geez, I wish she didn't have to be like that sometimes," she said. I looked up at Rinoa. "But I guess it can't be helped. Oh! And look, we are directly in front of the practicing room." I looked through the doorway and saw a giant room filled with training equipment. "Here, you can practice on the trapeze, trampoline, and all of the other equipment. Just make sure you know how to use them before you use them." I stared in awe at the room. It was amazing! I will definitely be able to show Akemi-sama what I am made of. "Say, Kairi?" Rinoa said to me.

"Hai?" I answered.

"Do you like to ice skate?" she asked me. I smiled.

"Yes! I do. I was the champion at an ice skating tournament one year." Rinoa smiled at me.

"Well then, why don't we go on and head down to the lake? It's frozen and we can skate on there," said Rinoa. We had a lot of free time and I really wanted to have some fun. I jumped into the air.

"Let's go!" And we both ran out of Mika Lights Stage and headed back to the dorms to get our things.

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"Rinoa! Hurry up you lazy bum!" I yelled as I put my regular shoes back on.

"Oh really? Well then, if I _am_ a lazy bum, why am I doing something athletic?" Rinoa teased back. That was a very good point, but I didn't care.

"Whatever, just hurry up," I yelled back. Rinoa and I had gone ice skating for the past two hours. It was getting late so we needed to head back.

Rinoa skated across the lake and jumped into the ground, walking over to the bench to put her shoes back on. She quickly laced her shoes and pulled her skates over her shoulder.

"Ready?" she asked. I smirked and put my hands on my hips.

"I've been ready for the past ten minutes," I teased. Rinoa stuck out her tongue at me and giggled.

"Come on," I said. So, Rinoa and I walked over to what we thought was solid ground, but wasn't. It was thin ice.

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"Hey, Sora!" Sora looked over his shoulder to see Tidus running in the distance.

"Heeeeyyyyy!!!!!" Sora yelled while waving his hand in the air. Tidus ran up to Sora and put his hands on his knees, panting.

"I… finally… caught… up to… you!" Tidus blurted out in-between pants. Sora smiled at his friend and slapped him on the back.

"Yes, you did," replied Sora. Sora turned around and froze. Tidus saw Sora and looked at him.

"What is it?" Tidus asked.

"That's thin ice," answered Sora. Suddenly, the sound of ice cracking could be heard. Rinoa had already made it to the other side, but as for me… "WAIT!" yelled Sora as he started into a dead run.

"What the?! Wait, does this mean I have to catch up to you again?! Aw, come on!" yelled Tidus, but Sora couldn't here him.

"Come on, Kairi! _Now_ who's the lazy bum?" Rinoa teased. I was at a halfway distance from Rinoa.

"Well then!" I said while giggling. Little did I know, things where about to get _"cracked"_ up. I suddenly looked down to see the snow had melted and all there was, was ice. _Thin _ice. It started cracking, and I became panicked. I couldn't move or anything, but something pushed me off the ice just as it had crashed into the ice-cold water. I realized what had pushed me off was a human, and that human was a boy.

We crashed onto solid ground, rolling from the pressure and angle that we had landed at. When we stopped, I opened my eyes to find that _I_ was the one on top of him. We were both breathing hard from the incident, and I could tell that he had ran from a distance to get to me in time. He had brown, spiky hair and crystal, blue eyes. He was actually kind of cute. Okay, _majorly_ cute. I finally snapped out of my moment and immediately started getting up.

"I'm so sorry!" I began to say. The boy smiled at me and shook his head.

"It's no problem," He began. "I saw you from a distance and knew that you were on thin ice. I'm glad I saw you sooner too." He stood up and offered me his hand. While giving a faint blush, I grabbed his hand and he helped me up.

"Arigatou," I said. "I would have been a popsicle if you hadn't seen me." The boy laughed.

"And that wouldn't have been a good thing," he answered. We both laughed at what had just happened. Man, did he have a gorgeous smile.

"Oh! Geez, I'm such a ditz. I'm Kairi," I told the cute boy while holding out my hand for him to shake. The boy took it while still smiling.

"Nice to meet you Kairi. My name is Sora," he said while shaking my hand. _'Sora. What a _hot_ name for such a hot guy,'_ I thought to myself.

"A pleasure to meet you, Sora. May I ask you a question?" I said.

"Sure. Go on ahead," Sora answered.

"Do you know where the school _Spira High_ is? I'm going there Monday for the first time and not knowing where the school is, is bad," I said. Sora smiled.

"I sure do. I'm going there myself as well. I'm now a junior," Sora answered. I gasped.

"Me too! I'm actually quite excited about going there. I get to meet new people, like you. But I was wondering if I could meet you on Monday so you could show me?" I asked. Sora laughed.

"Of course! That would be no problem at all," Sora answered. I grinned at Sora, giving him my thanks.

"Thank you!" I looked over at Rinoa who was now running around the lake over to me. "Well, I guess I should be going. I think I gave my friend a heart attack," I giggled. Sora laughed and patted my back.

"Alright. I'll see you around. And stay out of trouble… and frozen lakes," Sora teased. I jokingly pushed Sora gently and started to walk off.

"See ya," I said to the boy.

"See you," Sora replied to me. _'And count on that, I _will_ see him again. Many times as well, I hope.'_

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_**Author's Note: **__Woohoo! Finally, chapter 2 done… and in 1 night. O.o Something is up. XD Anyways, yes! Sora and Kairi meet. And yes, Akemi-sama hates Kairi. Why? And I made Rinoa a good and fun person to hang around with. Why? Let's see for all of those._

**Ka-chan:** What the?! Did hell freeze over or something? You _HATE_ Rinoa. Why did you make her such a lovable character?**  
Nik-chan: **Because you are. And Rin's your fav character. But I might make other people call her flat-chested in here. *evil snicker***  
Ka-chan: **I hate you. *Storms off while dragging Kadaj with her***  
Nik-chan:** Anyways, let's see Akemi-sama!**  
Akemi:** Hey you bad author.**  
Nik-chan:** *death glares* Excuse me? Anyways, we've come to ask for an interview. Why do you hate Kairi so much?**  
Akemi:** Because you made me.**  
Nik-chan:** Of course I did. But I really mean, why?**  
Akemi:** *sighs* Because I can't stand someone who can't even do a simple thing as to be on time.**  
Zack:** You really don't know what she's capable of though. Maybe she had reasons as to being late.**  
Akemi:** There are no excuses!**  
Nik-chan:** Whoa, I think I miss flat-chest. XD**  
Kadaj:** You're not going to give her a transplant, are you?**  
Nik-chan:** Dunno. Maybe I'll make her get in a car crash where she needs one. Then she'll be normal!**  
Kadaj:** *stares at crazy author* No she won't.**  
Nik-chan:** Yeah, I know. *looks down* Say, I though Ka-chan dragged you off.  
**Kadaj:** Erm, no she didn't! *runs off*  
**Nik-chan:** *sighs* Men.

Anyways, please review and tell me what you think! :D


	3. Chapter 3: Practice with a Schoolmate

**_Disclaimer:_**_Shouldn't you guys know that I don't own anything yet?_

_**Kadaj:**__ Nope!**  
Nik-can:**__ Shuddap!**  
Kadaj:**__ I have one word for you.**  
Nik-chan:**__ And what's that?**  
Kadaj:**__ Letitgo.**  
Nik-chan:**__ Um, that's three words.**  
Kadaj:**__ Not the way I say it! Letitgo!**  
Nik-chan:**__ Whatever! I don't own anything! :o_

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_**Author's Note:**__ Geez, I think this story is becoming my life now. XD And let me tell you, I think I'll be needing some ideas for the next chapter, so please help me out after you read this chapter! Please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please!!!!!!! You know you love me, so gimme a cookie! XD So yeah, Chapter 3. :o Enjoy! ^^;_

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**Walk by the Shore**_  
Chapter 3: Training with a Schoolmate_

(Started: March 27th/Finished: March: 28th)

I looked over at the clock. It was 5 A.M. in the morning. I had one hour to get ready and head over to the practice room. I slowly got up to sit on my bed when I realized something. Rinoa was gone.

'_Where'd she go off to?' _I thought to myself. I shrugged and went to the bathroom to get ready.

After I got ready and all, I looked over on the table and found a sticky note. It was from Rinoa.

"Hey, sleepy head! If you are reading this, I went to go practice with Akemi at her place. I'll be back around noon though. Good luck with your training!"

- Rinoa

"Hmm, Akemi's place, huh?" I shrugged yet again, grabbed my bag and headed out the door.

When I got to the Mika Lights stage, I realized no one was there. _'They all must be sleeping still,' _I thought. I walked over to the practice room door when Auron caught me.

"Hey, trainee! How are you this morning?" he asked me with a smile.

"I am doing fine today, Mr. Katagowa. How about you?" I answered back politely. Auron laughed.

"Same as ever," he replied. He pointed to the door. "Your trainer is in there right now. He will be your permanent trainer from now on, alright?" I nodded.

"Hai!" Mr. Katagowa nodded with respect.

"Now then, go on! You don't want to be rude and keep him waiting!" Auron pushed me towards the door. I smiled and bowed.

"Arigatou!" And on through the doorway I trotted in. My jaw nearly dropped ten feet when I did so too. There, on one of the benches, was a kid with brown, spiky hair and blue eyes. He looked up at me and had the same expression on his face that I had.

"S-S-Sora?!" I stuttered. Sora got off the bench and stood on his feet.

"Kairi?" Sora said still staring at me. We stared at each other for a few minutes until I finally nodded. "_You_ are the new member of Mika Lights Stage?" I put my hands on my hips giving him a 'what-am-I-not-good-enough-to-be?' look.

"And is that a problem?" I asked with a smirk. Sora shook his head panicking-ly. (_Oh yeah! Another new word! XD_)

"No! Of course not! I'm actually quite happy that you are," answered Sora wearing a smile across his face. Damn, did he work his smile well. Ugh, getting off topic! I smiled back and started to laugh, which Sora joined in on as well. I looked over at the trapeze.

"So, which one am I working on today?" I asked Sora. Sora looked over at the trapeze as well.

"I did plan on using the trapeze today, if that's alright with you," Sora answered. I pulled my bangs behind my ear and my red hair seemed to flash by in my ponytail. Wow, my hair does some pretty strange things. Anyway, I'm getting off topic… again.

"Come on, trainer. Teach me stuff!" I said cheerfully. Sora grinned at me and I felt myself blush a little. I looked up at the trapeze. _'Dang that thing's high,'_ I thought to myself. I looked over at Sora who quickly glanced away from me. I could have sworn he had blushed. A small grin formed on my face and I grabbed his sleeve. "Come on already! How long are we going to wait her for? Christmas?" I laughed and started running towards the trapeze, dragging Sora with me.

"H-Hey!" laughed Sora as he was being held prisoner by me. I ran over to the trapeze set and walked up the 50 foot long ladder. I hopped up onto the 5 by 5 ledge and stood there, waiting for Sora's instructions.

"What next?" I called down to Sora. Sora motioned for me to grab the trapeze.

"Grab the trapeze and unhook it from the latch" yelled Sora. I grabbed the trapeze and unhooked it, just as Sora had commanded. I looked down at him for more instructions. "Now, all you need to do is jump from the edge with a little force which will shoot you across. When you have enough momentum, you can swing to the other trapeze. Got it?" I nodded.

"Hai!" I replied. I focused on the other trapeze with full vision. I tightened my grip on the trapeze with full strength. I was almost ready to jump when Sora called out.

"Oh! And also, there's a safety net in case you fall or have to get down. And remember to fall on your back, okay?" I nodded reassuringly to Sora and then went back to focusing on the trapeze. I stared at the other trapeze for a few seconds and then I jumped from the edge. It felt strange, yet exciting. Almost like I was on a swing, though I was hanging from it instead.

I shook my head to get back in focus as I came up close to the other swing. I pushed myself towards the other swing and let go of the current one, doing a small somersault in the air. At first, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it, but then I achieved in grabbing the other swing. I was stunned at what I could do at just the first try. This one was the very first time I had ever been on a trapeze before, and I had already mastered it. And suddenly, I began to have a flashback.

"Daddy! When can we go see it?"

"Soon, Kairi. Very soon," laughed the father. I pouted.

"But I want to see it now!" I begged my father. My father put his hand on my head.

"The show doesn't start until another hour. Let your mother prepare herself, alright?" I stared up at my father and gave in.

"Fine, but I still want to see," I said. My father laughed at my comment. After a few days, I became very sick. I was almost about to fall out of this world. I wanted my mother to be there with me at my side then, but she could only be with me for a few hours. She, too, was a member of Mika Lights Stage. I tried to beg my mother to stay, since I had a bad feeling something would happen if she did. But she couldn't find a substitute, so she had to leave. And when she went on stage, she was performing the show called "Romeo and Juliet," and it was her final show of that particular one as well until they moved on to another. And right on the trapeze, as she went to jump for her partner, he dropped her to her death. My mother crashed to the stage, and there were no lifelines whatsoever. Her bones were crushed and so wasn't her heart. Her partner had betrayed her, and she died because of him.

I snapped out of my flashback, realizing that I had just stepped onto the other edge. I turned around to find Sora dumbstruck. He just stared at me, and I started to put on a sly act.

"What?" I simply asked. Sora shook his head.

"Don't 'What?' me!" exclaimed Sora. "You just did a perfect transition somersault on the trapeze for the very first time. No 'What's' are good enough for an answer." I smiled down at Sora and giggled.

"Well then, I guess that just means that I am a natural," I said down to Sora. Sora ran his hand through his hair.

"We'll see how good you are. When you become Rinoa's partner, we'll see," said Sora. I blinked.

'_How did Sora know about Rinoa wanting me as her partner when I was capable?'_ I asked myself in my head. I snapped out of my thoughts and walked over to the trapeze which was now re-latched on the hook.

"What next, Sora-kun?" I teased. Now, I was sure of it that Sora was blushing. Either from anger or embarrassment, I do not know, but now I know that Sora was blushing. I snickered out loud.

"I _hate_ it when people add -kun to my name. Just call me Sora, if you will. Unless you want me to call you Kai-chan?" argued Sora.

'_Dang it! He's good at arguing as well? Geez, what else is he good at?'_ I thought to myself.

"Fine then, I won't. So anyway, what next?" Sora could tell I was anxious to move on. He sighed and held up his hands.

"Alright, alright. We'll move on. Next, since you already did a transition somersault, we'll be doing a flip maneuver next." I stared blankly down at Sora.

"Flip maneuver?" I questioned. Sora nodded.

"Hai. A flip maneuver. Let me explain. What you will do is flip high up into the air while keeping a graceful pose. Then, you will grab the other swing and gently land on the other edge. Got it?" I looked over at the other ledge. I was actually a little nervous.

"Yeah, I got it," I said firmly.

"This maneuver is much more difficult than a simple transition somersault. It takes the right amount of energy, power, speed, and timing. When you are ready, you may begin." I looked at the other swing.

'_Don't think, Kairi. Just do it!'_ I yelled to myself in my mind. I jumped off the swing and flipped 5 times up into the air while keeping a gracious pose. I then propelled myself to the other swing, but my vision went foggy for a second. I thought the swing was a little bit the left, so I moved a little bit. But then as I moved, my hand slid right past the swing and I fell on the net. I was breathing hard, but I finally got up. Sora walked over to me with a concerned look.

"You don't look too well. Maybe you should take a quick break," said Sora. I shook my head.

"No. I'll get this down packed," I told Sora. Sora sighed, but then walked back over to where he could see me on the trapeze.

* * *

For the next 5 hours, I tried to succeed in this maneuver, but I always missed the swing. I nicked it a few times, but was never able to grasp it. Then, I tried again. This time, I used a little bit more power than speed. I flipped through the air five times once more and flew towards the swing. This time, I focused on the middle, and this time… I grabbed the swing. I hung from the swing panting and looking down. Sora smiled at me.

"About time. I thought you'd never get it!" joked Sora. I stuck my tongue out at him playfully.

"Gee, I hope you're working hard," came a familiar voice. I looked over my shoulder to see Rinoa standing by the doorway holding a basket.

"Rinoa-san!" I yelled with a smile on my face.

"Bonsowa-ru," replied Rinoa. (_N/E: Bonsowa-ru means 'Good Evening' in Japanese)_ Rinoa walked over to where Sora was.

"Hello, Rinoa," said Sora. Rinoa smiled and tilted her head in that 'oh-that's-so-kawaii' way. _(N/E: Kawaii means cute. And she is far from Kawaii in my opinion! XD)_

"Omaesan, Sora," replied Rinoa with the same look. (_N/E: Omaesan means 'hey' in Japanese._) Rinoa looked up at me as I hung from the bar. "So, I guess you have already mastered the trapeze, huh?" Rinoa said in an unsurprised tone. Rinoa seemed interested in a piece of her hair as she twirled it around her finger. "As I had said before, I knew you could become my partner." Rinoa looked up at me and winked. I smiled, overfilled with joy and let go of the swing. I fell on my back in the net and rushed off.

"Arigatou, Rinoa-senpai!" I yelled full of confidence. Rinoa put her hands on her hips.

"Kairi, there is no need for formalities, you know that right? We're good enough friends. Just call me Rinoa," Rinoa said with a half-smile. A grin wiped onto my face.

"Whatever you say, Rinoa," I answered. Rinoa put a cheerful smile on her face.

"Now, I brought you guys lunch, knowing that you'd be hard at work. Am I good, or am I good?" bragged Rinoa. Sora and I laughed together with Rinoa.

"You're neither," said Sora. Rinoa glared over at Sora.

"Hey! I am too good," yelled Rinoa as she broke out into a laugh. "Ikani! Let's go to the park to eat, alright?" (_N/E: Ikani means 'whatever' in Japanese._)

"Yoshi, sensei," I said with a smirk. (_N/E: Yoshi means 'alright' in Japanese._) I swear I saw Rinoa turn red from irritation.

"Now Kairi, be a good little girl and call me Rinoa. Or else no pudding for you!" teased Rinoa. I laughed.

"Okay, okay. I get it," I said. _'I'm really glad I have such great friends,'_ I thought.

"Kairi, you coming?" asked Sora. I looked up to find Sora and Rinoa looking at me. Apparently, I stopped and was staring into space.

"Eh? Oh, right. Coming!" I ran over to Sora and Rinoa as they smiled at me. _'I know there's something wrong, but I can't quite put my finger on it,'_ I thought to myself. _'I'm sure I'll think of it soon enough though.'_

_

* * *

_

"Hey, Kairi?" Sora asked. I was eating a rice ball when he suddenly asked for my attention.

"Yes, Sora?" I said after I swallowed the piece of the rice ball. Sora looked me in the eyes for a few seconds.

"I saw that you lost focus quite a few times while you were doing the flip maneuver. If I'm correct, everything formed into three swings and you couldn't tell which one was the real one, right?" I gulped.

'_How did he know that?'_

"U-Uh, yeah. How did you know that?" I asked. Sora looked down at the ground. Rinoa cut in.

"Twelve years ago, an incident happened at Mika Lights Stage. One of our stars died on stage," Rinoa said. My body froze over completely. "The show was 'Romeo and Juliet.' She practiced one night out on a corkscrew trapeze that was built outside. And it started raining that night. She was outside because one of the stars wouldn't leave, therefore she was forced to practice outside in the rain. She caught a slight fever, but told no one of it." Rinoa looked down at her hands. She seemed to become more interested in them. "Then, she was able to practice with her partner the next day for a few hours. She had come back from the hospital, from which she was visiting someone. She still had her fever, and it had gotten worse. Though we couldn't tell at the time. She practiced on the corkscrew trapeze, but she did the same thing that you did. She saw three ropes and grabbed for the wrong one. She then tried with her partner, but she failed again. And the last thing her partner said to her was 'I will create you greatest moment.'" A tear trickled down Rinoa's cheek. "And then, she performed greatly in the show, until…" trailed off Rinoa. Sora decided to cut in.

"…Until it came to the corkscrew jump. This time, she grabbed straight for her partner, and would have succeeded, but she didn't. Her partner only smirked at her and pulled his hands away before she could grab them. And she fell to her death. Her bones were crushed and she died after an hour," said Sora.

"She was one of my best friends," said Rinoa. I was stunned.

'_So that's the full story on things, huh?' _I looked straight up into the sky.

"Azami Yoshiro," I said, still looking up at the sky. Rinoa and Sora both looked at me. Rinoa's eyes were red and puffy and Sora's face was covered with concern.

"So, you heard?" asked Rinoa. I looked down] and into her eyes.

"She was my mother," I said. Rinoa and Sora both gasped. I also thought that they both jumped a little too. "I was the one she visited at the hospital. I was five at that point. I had a deadly sickness and I begged her to stay. I had a feeling something bad was going to happen. But she had no substitutes, so she had to go. I guess my hunch was right." Rinoa looked me in the eyes.

"I am sorry." I looked back at her again and managed a smile.

"There's no need to be. At least she's in a better place now. Plus, that old creep of a partner is gone now, so there's no need to worry," I said. I looked over and saw that Rinoa had become interested in looking at her feet. I quickly decided to change the subject. "So! How was your practice at Akemi's?" Rinoa's face brightened up.

"Oh! It was great. We were perfecting our own maneuver's that only we can perform!" I stared at Rinoa.

"And what would they be?" I asked out of curiosity. Rinoa smiled.

"The Alternating Phoenixes," replied Rinoa. I tilted my head in confusion.

"They are highly dangerous maneuvers that only the creator's can perform. Akemi's is the Golden Phoenix and Rinoa's is the Silver Phoenix. Both fire and ice alternate around each other showing a collaboration of opposing elements. It is quite an extraordinary sight to see," answered Sora. "If I am correct, you'll be performing that as the climax of 'Cri de Coeur,' right?" Rinoa nodded.

"Yeah, that's right. We were perfecting it now so it'll be 100% perfect by Christmas," replied Rinoa. I looked up at Rinoa.

"Cri de Coeur?" I asked.

"It's the name of the show that will be released on Christmas. It's based on a war between two kingdoms. They used to be united as friends, but the Kingdom of Shrentar had a child named Mea. The Kingdom of Illusen had a child named Kia. Mea was stolen away from her kingdom after 1 year of her birth. She was stolen away by a witch where she kept Mea in a villa in the far-off woods. The house was protected by a barrier, so no one could ever get through. The Kingdom of Shrentar thought that Illusen had stolen away Mea, but they had not. War broke out between the lands as nothing could stop them. Mea was brought up as a peasant, and was able to go to the village unnoticed. And one day, Kia was riding her horse through the woods where she found a wood nymph. The wood nymph led her to the villa, where she met the lost princess, Mea. They were of the same age, and they looked identical. Little did anyone know, that they were sisters bounded by light. The Legendary Sisters of Light, so it has been known as. Kia's element was fire and Mea's element was ice. Their looks showed it off too. Kia had blonde hair and golden eyes. Mea had black hair and silver eyes. After Kia found Mea, she brought her to Shrentar. After returning Shrentar's daughter, the two realms were united once again. And the two kingdoms hunted down the witch and killed her. That was pretty much the entire story. Akemi will be playing Kia, and Rinoa will be playing Mea," Sora said. I felt stricken. I looked at Rinoa. She was everything Sora had just described. Black hair, silver eyes. It all fits into Mea being her part. And Akemi had blonde hair and golden eyes. It just all fits!

Rinoa looked at me and giggled. "I'm guessing you just realized I look exactly like Mea?" I nodded with my jaw slightly ajar. "To tell you the truth, 'Cri de Coeur' is not just some old fairytale. It really happened. Well, a few centuries ago, that is. Mea was one of my great grandmothers, and therefore, I inherited her looks."

I had to admit, I was pretty amazed. I never realized it, but Rinoa actually looked like a full-grown princess. She looked like one, acted like one, and even ate like one. She was so proper. And she even had a sense of humor. Geez, who knew?

Rinoa looked down at her watch. "Oh my! I think you guys should be going. The practice room closes today at 4 P.M. since it's a Sunday. It's now 3:30. I've kept you too long, but you'll have at least one hour to practice. I promised Akemi that I'd be at the dorms in one hour so we could head over to Mika Lights stage together. So you'd better hurry," said Rinoa. We all got up and helped clean up our spot. Rinoa left with her stuff and on she went.

"Hm," I sighed to myself. Sora looked over at me.

"What?" he asked. I looked over at him.

"Oh nothing. It's just I still don't know where the school is and I need to know by tomorrow," I replied. Sora smirked at me.

"Well then, I was going to meet you and walk to school with you tomorrow," he replied. I lightened up a bit.

"Really? But, one question," I said.

Shoot," Sora replied.

"Where would I meet you?" Sora stopped in his tracks and scratched his head. Apparently he didn't think that far.

"Do you know where the Kika News Stand is?" asked Sora. I nodded.

"Hai?"

"I'll meet you there at 7 A.M. tomorrow, alright? School's a 30 minute walk from there, so there shouldn't be a reason for you to be late, alright?" said Sora. I smiled.

"Alright. I'll meet you there tomorrow," I replied. Sora smiled at me and I found myself smiling back at him.

"In the mean time, let's practice your flip maneuver. I want to see if you can perfect it now." I stuck out my tongue at him.

"I already did it once. You want me to do it again?" I teased showing my 'you-know-you-love-me-so-give-me-a-cookie' face. Sora grinned at me.

"Well, of course. If you're going to be Rinoa's partner, you have to redo things over," answered Sora. I stared backing away.

"I'll race you too it then," I said back. Sora walked up to my position.

"Alright then. On the count of three, we run." I nodded and snickered inside my head.

'_Little does he know…'_

"1..." I said.

"2..." continued Sora. And without hesitation, I started to run.

"See ya sucker!" I yelled back, running off towards the stage.

"Hey!" yelled Sora as he came running down behind me. I laughed as I ran through the city.

'_I am so glad… that I was able to come here. Regardless of what Akemi-sama said, I know that I am supposed to be here. And whatever it takes, I'll prove to her that that is true.'_

_

* * *

_

_**Author's Note: **__Geez, everyday now I've uploaded a new chapter. And the next chapter, Kairi will be going to school with Sora. :o What'll happen? Who'll be there? Will Kairi make more friends? Who knows?! I need some ideas! XD_

_**Kadaj: **__You are really bad at promoting things, you know that?**  
Nik-chan:**__ Shuddap, flat-chest lover!**  
Ka-chan:**__ Flat Foot! Don't you dare insult my lover! *glomps Kadaj***  
Nik-chan: **__Geez, you're like a Boa constrictor!**  
Ka-chan:**__ Oh, I will be if you insult Kadaj again.**  
Nik-chan:**__ Oh, yeah. I'm shaking in my boots. Tell that to momma's boy over there.**  
Ka-chan:**__ Die! *throws rock at Nik-chan and kills her***  
Kadaj:**__ Crap! You killed the author! *mumbles under breath* Good riddance…**  
Ka-chan:**__ And that's all for now! Toodles. ^^_


	4. Chapter 4: The Club of Royal Bitches

_**Disclaimer:**__ *sigh* I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy._

_**Kadaj: **__Nik-chan!  
__**Nik-chan:**__ What?  
__**Kadaj: **__From now own, you and I will be claiming this disclaimer! We shall make it more interesting.  
__**Nik-chan:**__ What? But no matter what, you always take it over.  
__**Kadaj:**__ Well, now I'm co-owning it with you.  
__**Nik-chan:**__ And why?  
__**Kadaj:**__ Because…  
__**Nik-chan: **__…?  
__**Kadaj: **__How dare you not give me a part! I'm telling Ka-chan!  
__**Nik-chan: **__Gah! Crazed fictional characters on the loose! *runs away*  
__**Kadaj: **__Nik-chan does not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy!__**

* * *

Author's Note:**_

_I'd like to thank some reviewers who gave me a few ideas. The funny thing was, was that someone told me something I was planning on doing. XD It's either I'm very obvious, I'm leading it up to that point, or they are just plain good. XD But whichever, I was surprised when they said that. But sorry for you guys, I'm not telling what that part was OR when it'll happen, but it won't be in this chapter, I can assure you of that. So anyways, enjoy this somewhat-short chapter. Oh, and uh, sorry for the typos in the other chapter. I have no idea what they were thinking. XD_

* * *

**Walk by the Shore**  
_Chapter 4: The Club of Royal Bitches_

(Started: March 29th/Finished: April 1st)

I stared up at the ceiling. It was 6 A.M. Today was my first day of school, and I was walking to school with Sora. I wonder if it could be any better.

'_Maybe I'll have some classes with Sora?' _I thought to myself. It didn't matter, as long as I was going to the same school with him.

I got out of bed and started to get ready. In one hour, I'd be walking to school with my crush. Good thing he didn't know about the crush part though. The entire time I was getting ready, I was thinking about what Spira High would be like. I was starting the 11th grade here. Good thing Mr. Katagowa called me over here before the school year started so then I wouldn't be completely lost. But still, I'd be lost. This school has uniforms too. Woopie. The girls have to wear white, short-sleeve shirts with blue plaid skirts and ties. Along with knee-high black stocking and black shoes. As for the guys, they have to wear tan pants, a white, short-sleeved shirt along with a blue plaid tie as well. Gee-whillickers, won't this be fun?

I put one last bobby pin in my hair before I went to go grab for my red backpack. I slung one strap over my shoulder and walked out the door to go meet Sora.

I walked through the streets, trying to find the quickest route to the newsstand. Sora had said that it was a five minute walk from the dorms. I looked around. There wasn't a whole lot of traffic today. It made me wonder why for a few minutes.

Then I finally walked to a road crossing. And there, on the other side, was the newsstand. A boy was leaning up against a stop-sign pole. And just as expected, he had spiky brown hair and wore a school uniform. His blue backpack lay beside his feet. It was clear that he didn't see me yet, so I crept up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Omaesan, Sora-kun!" I yelled from behind him. Sora jumped a little and looked over at me. I smiled Kawaii style and giggled. Sora wore a half-smile. I blinked and looked at him. "What is it?" I questioned. Sora looked like he was about to say something, but stopped himself and smiled.

"It's nothing," he answered. Sora picked up his backpack, slung one strap over his shoulder, turned around and started walking up the sidewalk. "We should get going." I stared at Sora with a dumbfounded look on my face. I blinked again and ran up to his said.

"You were going to say something, weren't you? But you thought it was embarrassing so you didn't, right?" I said. Sora's face turned the color of a tomato. He started scratching the back of his head with his hand.

"Erm…" stuttered Sora. I jumped from his side straight to being in front of him. Sora jumped back a little startled.

'_What's up with him?'_I asked myself in my head. Sora seems really nervous and tense around me today. I wonder why. _'Maybe…'_ I thought. Yeah! That _HAD_ to be it. It just makes sense.

"Come on, Sora-kun! You can tell me," I said. _'Huh, look at that. He isn't even arguing with me about adding -kun to his name. Is it really possible?'_

"Well, you see, you're going to a new school, therefore you'll be the new kid. And take note that there are a lot of horny guys there. So there's a pretty high chance of you getting groped. I was going to suggest maybe staying close to me so there's a slimmer chance of that happening. You never know what could happen."

'_Bingo! So, my hunch was right. He does-'_

"We should get going. Come on!" Sora grabbed my arm and started running.

"Whoa!" I yelled with a slight laugh. Sora looked back at me.

"Now _I'm_ the one who's pulling _you_around," teased Sora. We both laughed as we ran through the streets. I couldn't help but smile.

'_Little do you know, Sora…'_ I said in my head. _'… I, too, share your feelings.'_

* * *

After fifteen minutes, we reached the school. Sora and I were laughing the entire time we walked up to the doors. And let me tell you, the walk to the auditorium was quite an interesting one. At least five guys commented on how hot my ass was. Now I know what Sora meant by horny. Also, I swore someone even tried to grab it. Yuck!

So yeah. Sora and I were walking through the school to the auditorium and all when two girls popped out of nowhere. One had brown hair with a little fluff to it. Wow. And the other had blonde hair that just seemed to be… well, flat.

"Heeeeeyyyyyy!!!!!" yelled the brunette. The blonde girl looked like she was doing the potty dance.

"Hi. Um, are you okay?" I asked while pointing to the blonde. She nodded.

"Yeah, but I really gotta pee!!!!!" she yelled. I jumped from how loud and straight-forward she was.

"Then, go to the bathroom," I said. She shook her head.

"Nuh-uh! I can't use the school bathrooms!" I tilted my head.

"Why?"

"Because they are too public and germy!" she replied. I put my hand on my hip.

"Um, that's why they are called public bathrooms, and, ugh, all bathrooms are germy." She threw her hands up in the air!

"Gah! No one understands me!" And with that, she ran off. Sora chuckled a little bit.

"That was Dani, Selphie's sister." Sora pointed to Selphie, the brunette. "Selphie has sugar rush, and Dani, has what she calls, a 'good' bladder." I raised an eyebrow. I looked over at Selphie and smiled.

"Hey, I'm Kairi. Nice to me-"

"HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. Damn, I thought I was going to have a heart attack, let alone go deaf. I gave a half-smile and waved.

"Hey," I replied.

"Let's go to the auditorium so we can get our schedules, KAY?!" And with that, Selphie skipped along through the halls. I rubbed my ears, there was a long, high-pitched beep going on in my ears.

"Yeah, let's," I said softly. Sora laughed.

"You'll get used to it. Plus, I can already tell that you'll be best friends with her later on. Just now, she seems, kinda…"

"Loud?" I cut in. We both laughed and walked through the halls.

When we reached the auditorium, it was half-full. So there was obviously no problem finding a seat. Plus, some of Sora's friends had saved us some seats.

"Hey Sora! Over here!" yelled a boy. Sora looked over and waved at a blonde boy.

"Hey Tidus!" Sora looked back at me and grabbed my wrist. "Come on!" Sora was, yet gain, puling me along. Not that I was complaining though. When we got over to Sora's friends, Tidus' face swiped an evil grin straight onto it. And the bad thing was, was that I didn't know exactly _what_he was grinning about, and that was a bad thing. "Tidus, Riku, Wakka, this is Kairi. She's a new student to both here, and Mika Lights Stage. Kairi, this is Tidus, Wakka, and Riku." I looked around and smiled, giving a short wave.

"Hey," I said. Tidus smiled at Sora and stood up.

"Hey Sora, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked. Sora shrugged and then nodded. Tidus smirked and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him away. I looked around.

'_Geez, this is a really big auditorium,' _I said in my head. _'And the school is so much bigger than my old one. How am I supposed to-'_

"Hey! You can sit down if you want to, you know." I looked over to see Riku looking at me. He seemed to be one year older than Sora. A senior, probably. He was giving me the 'sit-down-or-look-like-a-fool' look. I remember Rinoa gave me those looks a lot. I looked back at Riku like he was a new shiny toy. But I soon shook out of my fantasy and looked at a chair.

"Sorry," I said and I sat down on the end seat.

"There's no problem. It's just that you don't have to stand, you know?" replied Riku. I gave Riku a faint smile.

"Thanks," I said. Riku chuckled.

"No problem. It's tough being the new kid around here. _Especially_here, that it. Almost everyone in this school is horny," said Riku.

"'Cept us," interrupted Wakka. We all laughed at the comment.

'_Hm, well, Sora was right about the horny part. I'll give him that, but still…'_I was telling myself in my head. And just when I as about to finish that though, Sora and Tidus came back. I quickly got up and let them slide on through the row to their seats. I sat back down at the seat on the end. I looked over at Sora, but he wouldn't look at me. He seemed so tense, like he was unable to move. Reminded me of when an opossum plays dead. So frantic, yet pulls it all off.

I put my hand on Sora's shoulder and saw his face turn a little pink. Man, it was really obvious that he liked me. But I wonder if he could tell if I liked him back. Then, it hit me. What Tidus had talked to Sora about was me. _Me_! Tidus saw that Sora was crushing on me majorly. I wonder if they knew about me. I dunno, but I know one thing: Girls are better at concealing their feelings for someone than men are.

"Sora, you okay?" I asked him. Sora looked at me with his blue eyes. Oh man, did his face just make me want to curl straight into his arms. But I couldn't, or else I'd make a very strange impression on his friends. I _couldn't_let anyone know about my crush on Sora. At least not yet, that is. Sora smiled at me.

"Yeah, of course I am," he answered. Damn, he wasn't going to give in, was he?

"You sure?" I pestered. He probably thought I was his mother for a second.

"What are you, my mother?" he asked while laughing. Bingo. I _did _remind him of his mother for a few seconds.

"No. That'd be strange. Very strange," I replied with a faint smile.

"Why did you ask?" questioned Sora. I sighed, putting on my 'I'm-so-cute-and-innocent-that-you-should-confess-to-me-and-give-me-a-years-stash-of-cookies' look.

"Oh, no reason. You just look so tense and nervous whenever you're around me, or is that just you?" I asked. Man oh man, did I get him there. Sora chuckled.

"I usually act like this. It's anticipation attacks. Quite normal for teenagers," Sora joked. I laughed along with him, just to let him know that I was following along.

'_Damn, mission failed,'_I said in my head. Tidus kludged Sora in the ribs, making Sora lean over in pain.

"Ouch!" Sora whispered loudly. Tidus laughed at Sora.

"Sorry man. Just thought it'd be funny," joked Tidus.

"Ha ha, very funny," Sora said with also starting to laugh. What is it with boys and pain? Do they _like _pain? What was Tidus thinking in his little mind?

"So, you're Kairi," said Tidus. At first, I thought he was stupid, but then I realized that he was mocking Sora. I gave him a smirk.

"Yeah, I am," I answered. _'What of it?'_I asked in my head. Tidus snickered and looked at the stage.

"Nice to meet you," Tidus said. Tidus, to me, seemed a bit laid-back like and a little on the sensitive side. I'm sure he was a good person, but right now I'm kind of getting a bad jibe. Oh noes! I'm already starting to predict their personalities. Oh my gosh!

And just then, the principal walked onto the stage. Now, instead of giving you the full detailed instructions, I'll give you the basic one. He told us how to get our classes. And number one on the list was: Get to homeroom. My problem was, was that I had a question: Where the frick is my homeroom?!

"Kairi." I jumped a little when Sora tapped me on the shoulder. Sora gave a small laugh. "Geez. Glad you didn't kill anybody," Sora said jokingly. I smiled.

"Sorry," I said, looking at my knees. Sora shook his head.

"Don't be. Anyway, I was going to tell you that you'll be in Mr. Yoshirigo's homeroom since your last name is… erm… starts with a 'Y.'" I looked back up into Sora's face. He just covered for me, since I didn't want people knowing about my mother. At least, not yet. I nodded, giving Sora my thanks.

"Arigatou," I whispered. Sora scratched his head.

"No problem," he answered. Aww! He was so cute when he's shy around me. Ugh, anyways!

"Um, will there be anyone in my homeroom that I'll know?" I asked. Sora looked down.

"Well, Selphie and her sister Dani will be in your homeroom," he answered.

'_Oh! Maybe I can get to know them a little bit better,'_ I said to myself while brightening up. _'You know, this may not be so bad.'_

"And Tidus." My jaw dropped.

'_What did he just say?'_Sora looked over at Tidus.

"Hey, do you think you could show Kairi to homeroom when it's time to go?" Tidus nodded.

"Sure thing," replied Tidus.

'_Oh dear lord… Why?! He's planning something and I can't read his mind! Come on!'_I yelled in my head. Sora stood up from his seat.

"It's time to go to homeroom. Come on, Wakka," Sora said. I stood up and stepped aside from the row. Sora and Wakka slid from to the row and started to walk up to the exit. Apparently Wakka and Sora were in the same homeroom. Wait, Wakka and Sora? No, no, no. That won't do. Now, _Sora and Wakka _sound so much better! Anyways…

I stared at the floor blankly, just wondering what Tidus was up to. I knew the conversation he had with Sora earlier was about me, but what was he planning? Maybe… maybe… Maybe! Nah, I got nothing, but whatever it was, I had a bad feeling about it.

With me thinking to myself, I didn't even realize that Tidus and I were the only ones left in the auditorium.

"Hey." I gasped and looked up. Tidus was looking at me. "We should get going," he said bluntly.

'_Ya think?'_I asked in my head. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, we should… uh… get going." Tidus smirked and started walking up the hall. I started walking behind him, still wondering what it was that he was planning.

* * *

After I had picked out my classes, we received a printed version of our schedule.

**KAIRI YOSHIRO**

**DAYS | PD. | CLASS | TEACHER | Room No.**

1-6 | HM Homeroom | Mr. Yoshirigo | 110  
1-6 | 1 | Geography | Ms. Tagoya | 102  
1-3 | 2 | C. Writing | Mrs. Riya | 303  
4-6 | 2 | MS Word | Mr. Aywa | 311  
1-6 | 3 | English | Mrs. Uika | 100  
1-6 | 4 | Trigonometry | Mrs. Ryu 111  
1-6 | 5 | Chemistry | Mr. Bami | 212  
1-6 | 6 | Lunch | Staff | Café  
1,3,5 | 7 | Gym | Ms. Gaia | GYM  
2,4,6 | 7 | French | Mr. Yagata | 201  
1-3 | 8 | Student Council | Ms. Yamaguchi | LIB  
4-6 | 8 | School Newspaper | Ms. Yamaguchi | LIB  
1,3,5 | 9 | Drama Club | Mr. Hekia | LGI  
2,4,6 | 9 | Study Hall | Mr. Haik | LGI  
1-6 | HM | Homeroom | Mr. Yoshirigo | 110

_(Sorry if it's jumbled. Looked better on my documents. XD)_

Yep. That was my schedule. Interesting, huh? Yeah, I got a lot of free time.

Tidus snuck himself behind me and started reading my schedule.

"So!" I jumped out of my seat. Tidus looked at me strangely. "Geez. Hope you didn't piss yourself." Oh man, PMS meter going to 100. I turned around and glared at Tidus.

"What?" I asked as calmly as I could. Tidus shook his head.

"Just wondering what you're going for exactly," he answered. I blinked. Tidus, was asking _me_ what I wanted to do as a living. Wow, who knew?

"Oh! I want to be an author. Writing helps me sort things out. It's just like writing your entire thoughts on a piece of paper. Well, being an author on the side of being a performer," I said while smiling. Tidus nodded.

"I hope you're successful when you get to that point." I blinked again. Why is Tidus being so nice to me now? Hm, I guess my hunch about him being nice _was_right. Huh, I'll take nice any day. I looked up at Tidus from my seat.

"What are you going for?" I asked. Tidus leaned against another desk looking at the walls.

"A professional blitzball player," he answered. I looked over at the wall. So, he was into sports as well. Geez, I know things about everyone else, but Sora just seems to want to remain unknown. Geez, what's the deal with that?

"Well then, I wish you luck with that too," I answered with a smile. And this time, I meant that smile, which Tidus realized. He made a silent gasp, but turned towards the wall again.

"Thank you," he answered.

'_Oh shit! Could he see right through me or something? He could tell that I meant this smile, so what did it mean?'_

"You know, Kairi. You're not that bad." I blinked.

'_What did he just say?' _Tidus shifted his head a little to the left.

"At first, I thought you were one of those preppy girls who are always rude to people. That's why I was a little on the rude side to you. But I was wrong. Completely wrong. And I know you were wondering what I was talking to Sora about." I stared blankly at Tidus, who never moved his gaze from the wall. He was going to… tell me? "I talked to Sora about you and asked if you were one of those kind of people. I argued with Sora about it, but he kept on defending you, which is how I thought of you not being a bad person. I mean, most of the girls that came here have been preppy and plain rude, but you're not." Tidus looked back at me and laughed a faint laugh. "I guess you can never judge a book by it's cover." I looked up at Tidus and smiled.

"I guess you can't," I answered. Tidus rubbed the back of his head with his hand.

"I'm, ugh, really sorry about my actions," apologized Tidus. I waved my hand slightly.

"There's no need to be sorry. I can understand." I stood up and held out my hand. "Friends?" I asked. Tidus' face brightened up and he took my hand, shaking it lightly.

"Friends," he answered with a smile. I giggled, and realized that Sora's friends weren't that bad at all. Sure, I didn't know Riku or Wakka very well yet, but if I can get along with Tidus, I'm sure I'll be able to get along with the others.

* * *

I got to the dorms around 4 P.M. today. My feet were exhausted from the long walk, but I realized that it was good for me for being in Mika Lights Stage.

I walked through the door to my dorm and Rinoa greeted me.

"So, how was your first day at Spira High?" she asked while folding clothes. I set my backpack down on the table.

"It was fine. I already made some friends. Six, to be exact," I replied. Rinoa laughed.

"I'm glad you had a good first day. Man, you should be glad Auron got you in exactly before the school year started or else you'd be lost as peanut butter without jelly. Though, I don't really like peanut butter with jelly," said Rinoa stopping from folding a cammi. We both started laughing.

"Geez, Rinoa. You sure do know how to make someone laugh… and wonder," I said. Rinoa gave me that 'you-know-you-love-me-so-gimme-a-stash-of-cookies' look.

"That's what I'm paid for, right?" she said while going back to folding clothes.

"Wrong," I answered bluntly. Rinoa stomped her foot.

"Dang it!" she yelled and we both started laughing again. "So, do you have any homework at all?" Rinoa asked. I blinked. I remembered that I had to get a paper signed by a parent or a guardian for Drama Club. The only problem that I had, was…

"Um, yeah. Hey Rinoa? Would you count as to being a guardian?" I asked. Rinoa folded her last shirt and walked into the room.

"Yeah, why?" she replied. I smiled and turned to face her.

"Could you be my guardian?" I asked. Rinoa smiled.

"Of course! Anything to help you out. So, what do you need me to sign?" She asked, walking up to my side. I fuddled through my backpack and took out a green folder. I opened the folder and took out a white slip.

"I need you to sign this so I can perform in upcoming plays and such," I answered. Rinoa's face was then covered by a grin. Geez, doing extra to improve with your performing skills? Man oh man, you're getting close to becoming my partner. Maybe even getting closer to impress Akemi." Rinoa took the piece of paper and signed it, handing it back to me. "Hey," she said while patting my back. "You'll get her attention, trust me." Rinoa winked at me and walked out of the room, taking her clothes into the bedroom. I looked down at the slip, thinking of Rinoa's words.

"Thank you, Rinoa. I will get up to your level. You'll see. Both you… and Akemi-sama…" I looked up. "Oh shit!" I smacked my forehead. Ever since I came to America, I have forgotten to talk to Namine completely! Oh moes! Yes, I said 'Oh moes.' It's my new way of saying 'Oh no." Get it? Do ya? Huh? Do ya… Oh, just forget it.

I ran to the computer desk and quickly opened up my yahoo account, typing in my email: Kai_. When I opened my account, I had no messages, so I made one to Namine.

_**To:**__Namine Fair  
__**Date: **__April 1__st__, 2009  
__**Subject:**__ I Made It_

_Nam-Nams,_

_I'm so sorry I never emailed you when I got here Saturday. I guess I was so overwhelmed with the stage and stuff that I had completely forgotten to tell you that I got here. So, now I'm emailing you… on Monday… right after I got home. And I have to tell you, America is AMAZING! The stage, the people, the school, everything! Well, maybe not everything._

_Okay, so today was the first day of school for me here, right? So, I make a few friends and we go to choose our classes/ I chose Drama Club because you know how much I lurve that stuff. Anyways, when I got there, there were about 7 girls that I like the call the __Club of Royal Bitches__. So, okay, not all of the members in the club are bitches, but those seven are. Oh my gosh, they are terrible! Grr, how dare they call me a red-necked Asian! I'm a redhead, not a red-neck. But I got through the day, thank the lord. Too bad I get to see them again on Wednesday. Anyways._

_And better yet, there's this guy who has a crush on me! And the best part is, is that he's so cute. I just want to melt into his arms. Oh, sorry. Nam-Nams. You know how I am when it comes to this stuff. Plus I haven't talked to you in 3 days. It is so heart-breaking. But anyways, please reply so we can catch up, kay? Maybe you can come over here some time and visit? Just a thought._

_Love,_

_Kai-chan__**

* * *

Author's Note:**__Sorry for the delay in an update. I had a hard time with time management and thinking of how to put things. XD But I'm good now. :D I have a pretty good idea for Chapter 5. And if you are wondering, yes, I based the character Dani off of my friend Danielle. It just so happened that one day she really had to pee and she can't go in the school bathrooms. All the words that Dani said in this chapter cam from Danielle's real mouth. I kid you not. I was lie "Oh my gosh! I shall dedicate a character to you in my fan fiction!" And he became so happy. XD And in the next chapter, I'll be basing Dani more than ever on Danielle. And this one will include a muffin. A muffin, I tell you. A muffin! So anyways, stay tuned! :D Oh yeah, by the way, I didn't include the club thing in school because I won't be writing chapters in every single class, you know? So, instead, I made the club details in the message Kairi sent to Namine. Just so you don't get too confused, alright? Okay, good._

_**Kadaj:**__You take a long time, you now that?  
__**Nik-chan:**__Shuddap!  
__**Kadaj:**__ Bite me!  
__**Nik-chan:**__ Ew! No, that's gross!  
__**Ka-chan:**__ I will! :D  
__**Kadaj:**__Okay! XD  
__**Ka-chan:**__ *drags Kadaj off… again*  
__**Nik-chan: **__How many times is this going to happen?  
__**Cloud:**__ As many times as you right it.  
__**Nik-chan:**__ CLOUD!!! *tackles and drags off*  
__**Cloud:**__ Of course. Stay tuned though!_


	5. Chapter 5: Social Status: I'm a what?

**Disclaimer:** I, once more, do not own KH or FF.

**Kadaj:** You know you want to though…  
**Nik-chan:** Shuddap!  
**Kadaj:** … with Cloud. *evil smirk*  
**Nik-chan:** *silence* Got that right!  
**Sora:** You even going to mention him in the story?  
**Nik-chan:** … maybe.  
**Sora:** Watch, he'll end up raping Rinoa in the story.  
**Ka-chan:** NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!  
**Kadaj:** Sorry, Ka-chan. Guess it's destiny.  
**Ka-chan:** *death glares*

* * *

**Author's Note:** So sorry I haven't updated. I got really sick and couldn't even stand for a minute or anything, so I didn't get on very much. Plus school is nagging me and all. I even became a babysitter! :D Anyways, it's Spring Break now and I can finally write. Woohoo! Well, actually, today is the 13th, which is my last day. XD But anyways, I have this new idea for a new story, but I thought that I'd at least get halfway done with this story before I even upload it, so… yeah. XD The only problem is is that I forgot my idea!! D: Enjoy though. *mumbles to self* It pisses me off. But I uploaded a different story now too. I'll probably end up putting my one idea (that I friggen lost o) into that one in time. :o I had a HUGE writer's block on this, so that was the most part of the delay. Sorry! D:

* * *

_**Walk by the Shore  
**__Chapter 5: Social Status: I'm a… What?_

(Started: April 9th/Finished: April 13th)

**3 Days Later… April 4th**

I flipped my sheets off and sat up in my bed. I've been going to school for three days so far. I was starting to fit in pretty well, but I still had my doubts. I missed my old friends from Tokyo. I sure do hope that they missed me as well.

I got up from my bed and walked over to a glass desk with my laptop on it. I sat in the char and turned my laptop on. I immediately opened up my internet browser and went to yahoo. I looked up at my messages and saw that there was one new message. I clicked it, curious to see who it was from.

It was from Namine. She had replied back to me.

**To:** Kairi_ Yoshiro  
_**Date:** _April 3, 2009  
_**Subject:** _Re: I Made It_

_Kai,_

_Kairi, Kairi, Kairi. What am I to do with you? But I'm glad you finally got around to emailing me. Thought you might've forgotten, but hey, we all know who you are and we can never change that. Glad you enjoy the place; though I still think you should have stayed here. If it makes you feel any better, Roxas misses you. A lot, actually. So much that it's starting to scare me. But as long as you're happy…_

_So, did you get to see Miss Lenne yet? I still want her autograph, no matter what. I expect to be getting that from you, you hear? Kidding, but seriously, I want one. Is Akemi still being ignorant? And is Zack hotter up close and personal? Man, he just makes me want to drool all over him. Anyways, and what about Rinoa? I don't know why, but in my head, I think she'd be kind of gloomy in person. She always seems so sad with emotion when she's on stage. Makes me wonder why. But that's just my opinion._

_What the flip?! Red-neck? I'm sorry Kai, but I had to laugh at that. Don't get me wrong, it was rude, but they are complete idiots for calling you a red-neck and not a carrot top! Sorry, but you know it's true. Club of Royal Bitches, eh? Better than calling them blonde-necks! Sorry, I just can't help myself. You know me, I never can. _

_Ooh! Kairi's got game! Joking! Send me a picture of him, kay? I must see what you are into nowadays. And yes, I am evilly smiling… and laughing… cause you're a red-headed red-neck! Okay, okay. I'll stop now. Geez, you'd laugh if they were talking about me, I guarantee that! So yeah…_

_By the way, over here we were let off for three weeks. It started to snow pretty badly and we are covered. I'll be coming up, with Roxas of course, to come see you. Talk and see you later……… And I still expect there to be a Miss Lenne autograph when I get there._

_Love,_

_Namine_

I sighed. "Namine, Namine, Namine. What am _I_ going to do with _you_?" I giggled as I got ready for school. I decided that I would reply to Namine later. Right now, my priority was getting to school.

I walked out into the kitchen to find Rinoa cleaning dishes. As I walked by, she looked over and smiled at me.

"Have a nice day," she said to me. I smiled widely and gave a hearty laugh.

"Don't worry, I always have one," I answered. "You too, though." Rinoa's smile quickly faded, but she hid it by going back to the dishes. I looked at her and raised an eyebrow, but she never turned back around. I shrugged it off and walked through the door. Rinoa looked up at the wall.

"If only you knew," she said. Rinoa shook her head. "No, you won't know. Not yet."

I was walking down the streets of Los Angeles, thinking of my past 3 days here, at Spira High. I laughed to myself at those few days.

_**Flash Back 1 - April 1**__**st**_

_A.M. Homeroom_

_Tidus peeked over at my schedule and grabbed it._

"_Hey!" I yelled at him. He only ignored me and put his schedule next to mine, like he was matching them up or something._

"_Hm," he said. I raised an eyebrow at him._

"_What?" I asked. He gave me back my schedule._

"_You have Pds. 1, 2 (on 4-6), 3, 6, and 7 with me. That's pretty much most of your schedule. I can show you to where those classes are, if you want," he said. I went wide-eyed. Geez, that was most of my schedule. Well, hopefully Sora would be in some, I hope that is._

_---_

_Pd. 1- Geography_

"_Ugh," I said as I slid down into my seat. It appears that Sora wasn't in this class with me at all. Tidus raised an eyebrow at me. He sat right behind me in this class._

"_What's your problem all of a sudden?" he asked me. I slid back up and turned my body so I could face him._

"_I've always hated geography. I fail at it," I answered. Tidus laughed. I looked at him bewildered._

"_It's not that bad of a class. Just listen and you'll be able to get through it." I smiled, but turned around._

"_That's what I did last time too. But did it work? No," I mumbled under my breath._

"_What'd you say?" asked Tidus. I perked up and smiled._

"_Nothing, I didn't say anything," I replied. Tidus crossed his arms and lay back in his chair. He gave me look that seemed as if he was branding me as 'Miss. Freakshow.'_

"_Right," he answered._

_---_

_Pd. 2 - Creative Writing_

_It seemed that I had this class with Wakka, which was okay, I guess, but I wanted at least one class with Sora. Though this was a very interesting class to me, on account that I was going for an author. Though, the teacher was kind of a… may I say, fruitcake?_

_I mean, she was nice and sweet and all, but she was kind of crazy. She can be very loony in class, it's as if she has the mind of a 12 year old: Hyper, funny, and can never sit still. It's kind of scary after a while. Wakka must have sensed my vibes._

"_Well, she's not all that crazy, ya?" he said. I looked over at Wakka._

"_She seems it to me, but she also seems nice," I replied. Wakka nodded._

"_She's just a little… jumpy, if I can say so," said Wakka as he put his hands behind his head, leaning back into his chair. I laughed at the remark and started looking around. When I looked to me left, there was Selphie right up in my face staring at me._

"_HI!" she yelled._

"_Gah!" I screamed and I fell to my right and out of my seat. I crash landed into the floor with Wakka jumping._

"_Whoa! You okay?" he asked holding out his hand. I looked up rubbing my chin since I just bashed it onto the ground._

"_Yeah," I replied. I took his hand as he helped me up. "Thanks." Wakka nodded and sat back down in his seat. I retook my seat and faced the brunette._

"_So sorry about that! Didn't think you were going to do that," said Selphie. I smiled but eyed the girl._

'_I hope I don't die from trying to become her friend,' I thought to myself. I waved my hands while smiling at Selphie. "Oh! No problem at all. I'm just a little jumpy today, that's all," I replied. Selphie giggled._

"_You seem really nice. I don't think we were able to introduce each other earlier. I'm Selphie, nice to meet you," she said with her hands behind her back. I could only smile. Earlier I almost went deaf from her yelling. She probably didn't her my name before._

"_It's a pleasure. I'm Kairi," I answered. Selphie only smiled at me._

"_Say, would you like to eat lunch with us? I'm sure the guys wouldn't mind, since you were already hanging out with them earlier," Selphie said while her thumb was pointing behind her. I looked over her shoulder to see Dani. It appeared that she didn't yet go to the bathroom. I could only laugh lightly._

"_Selphie and them sit with us at lunch since we're all friends. I think Sora was already planning for you to sit with us anyway," said Wakka. I looked over my shoulder to see Wakka looking straight at the board. I smiled faintly and turned back towards Selphie._

"_Sure, I'd love to," I replied. Selphie seemed to have liked my answer._

"_Yay!" she yelled while enforcing me into a killer bear hug. Man, she seemed more like a boa constrictor than a bear!_

"_I have to pee and no one understands!" Selphie released her hug and we both looked over at Dani. _

"_Dani, Dani, Dani," said Selphie. We all laughed, except Dani because, well, she really had to pee._

_---_

_Pd. 3 - English_

'_Finally!' I screamed in my mind. I had a class with Sora! Man, that made my day. I walked over to the windows and sat at the desk next to the wall. Sora walked in with Tidus and saw me sitting there. Sora and Tidus walked over to me, Sora taking the seat in front of me, and Tidus taking the one behind me. And not to my surprise, Selphie and Dani walked in, who took the seats beside me._

"_Sora, you'll never believe what Wakka told me," said Tidus from behind me. I turned my back to the wall so I could look at Selphie and them to talk. Sora sat on top of his desk, facing the back to see Tidus._

"_What did he say?" he asked. Tidus laughed._

"_That Selphie freaked Kairi out so much by saying 'hi' that she fell out of her seat!" Tidus cracked up laughing, and to my surprise, so didn't Sora._

"_Hey! It's not that funny. I turned around and she was _right_ there! Then she yelled 'hi' at the top of her lungs! Of course I was going to jump," I explained. But it was no use, they all kept on laughing. And so wasn't Selphie. Dani, she still had to pee, so she wasn't laughing or that'd make it worse. I sighed and crossed my arms, still looking forward. Sora stopped laughing and put his hand on my shoulder. Oh dear, I thought I was going to melt._

"_Come on Kairi, we were only picking," he said. I calmed down, but then I turned to face him._

'_Oh yeah?' I thought in my head. I stuck my tongue out at him and started to laugh._

"_Hey, not funny!" he said, but started to laugh too. Tidus was the only one not laughing._

"_Ugh, Sora?" he asked. Sora looked at him. _

"_What?" he asked. Tidus pointed at him._

"_Um, I think you're ass is vibrating," he answered. I laughed in my mind._

'_Heh heh. Your ass is vibrating. That's a good one. Heh' I said in my mind. Sora checked his back pocket and pulled out his cell phone. It was vibrating._

"_Heh, you were right," he answered. I went wide-eyed. His ass _was_ vibrating. Wait, why was Tidus looking at his butt?_

"_Hey Tidus," I said. Tidus looked at me with the 'what?' look. "Why were you looking?" I asked. Selphie started to crack up, and to my surprise, so didn't Dani. Tidus' face went red from complete embarrassment._

"_I wasn't! I heard a vibrating noise and it was coming from Sora. And he keeps his phone in his back pocket, so…" he said. I laughed and put my hand on his shoulder._

"_I'm only kidding," I replied. And even Tidus found himself laughing._

_---_

_Pd. 5 - Chemistry_

_(N/E: I'm skipping around here. XD P.S.: This one is short. :o)_

_I also had this class with Sora, and Dani. But no Selphie. How strange. I shrugged it off though and took the second seat next to Sora at one of the tables. (N/E: This is one of those original labs with the black desks that seat two people each, you know? So, yeah. XD)_

"_Hey," he said to me with a warm smile. I smiled sweetly back at him._

"_Hey there," I replied. Today was just a demonstration on how to use bunsen burners and all, so we got to play around with them. I looked over to see Dani smiling widely at a muffin that she was holding. I tilted my head, only for my eyes to go wide-eyed. She turned the bunsen burner on, and held her muffin over it. I groped for Sora's shoulder and grabbed his sleeve, never taking my widened eyes off of Dani._

"_Eh, Sora?" I said, still staring at Dani. Sora looked over at me._

"_What?" he asked casually. I pointed at Dani._

"_What's she doing?" I asked shaking. Sora looked over at Dani and, too, became wide eyed. Dani's muffin started to cook and soon, black smoke could be seen. She stared at her muffin and started to investigate it. She shrugged it off and put it back over the bunsen burner._

"_Dani, no!" Sora and I yelled in unison. But it was too late. The muffin exploded and went on Dani's chest. Dani screamed and threw her hands up in the air. She ran out the door screaming._

"_MUFFIN!" She yelled as she ran down the halls. Sora and I stared at the opened door. Everyone in the room was quiet. That is, until Sora and I started cracking up laughing, and soon, the entire class was as well._

"_You just got to love her," I said as we all laughed._

_---_

_Pd. 9 - Drama Club_

_(N/E: Whoa, what a jump. XD)_

_I walked into this class, and to my surprise, heh heh, I didn't know anyone. Well, that's what I thought._

_I walked down in the auditorium (N/E: At my school we call it the LGI. O.o Don't ask, cause I have no clue why. XD But I'll be calling it the LGI from now on too. :o) and took a seat in the front row. I sighed, since I knew no one in this class. Then, a boy came in and sat down beside me. I took the risk of looking and my mouth dropped. Sitting right next to me was…_

"_Hayner?" I asked. He jumped and looked over at me._

"_Yeah?" he asked in a confused tone. I laughed and brightened up. But he only got even more confused by that._

"_Don't you remember me?" I asked. Hayner took a good look at me and then put his hand under his chin._

"_You do look familiar," he said. I sighed. Well, it _has_ been 7 years._

"_You know. We used to hang out together with Roxas and Namine when we were kids. You know, back in Tokyo," I said. Hayner went wide-eyed._

"_Kairi?" he asked surprised. I shook my head happily. "Oh my gosh! It's been ages!" he yelled giving me a light hug. "How've you been?" I shrugged, still smiling._

"_I've been fine. I moved her just a few days ago. I was accepted into Mika Lights Stage," I answered enthusiastically. Hayner's mouth was slightly ajar._

"_You've been talking about that place you're entire life. We all thought you were crazy. It was the only thing that interested you at the time," said Hayner. But he smiled and winked at me. "I'm glad you got in though."_

"_So, why haven't I seen you at all today?" I decided to ask him._

"_Oh, I just got in Pd. 7. My mom didn't want me to miss my first day, though I had to have three doctor appointments today," he answered. My head feel to my side._

"_What for?" I asked._

"_Oh, just some basic things. I had to get a check-up and I also had to get more prescribed stuff for sports," Hayner answered casually. I smiled and punched him in the arm jokingly._

"_Yeah, well, don't make it a habit. We have to catch up sometime," I said with a faint laugh. Hayner laughed while looking down._

"_Don't worry, I won't."_

_And to my demise, that was the last cheerful moment of class. Because just then, a group of girls just walked into the LGI. I mean, yeah, you're probably thinking "The hell? Why are you scared of a bunch of girls? I mean, you're one for crying out loud!" But when you see _these _girls, your thoughts were then changed to "Oh my god! Mommy!!!!!!!" Yeah, that bad._

_They just walked in with sneers on their faces. To me, they looked like teenage strippers! You know, like I those old movies with the naughty school girl stuff? Oh wait, those weren't _old_ movies. They're movies today… Whoops!_

_I watched them as they walked in. And one of them, whom I presume to be the leader, brought her gaze upon me._

"_What are you looking at, scum?" she asked. Yeah, these were those preppy kind of bitches. My face flared with anger from her attitude._

"_Nothing," I replied looking away. The girl smirked and gave an annoying giggle. She looked at her group of other girls and gave them a look._

"_Listen here, you red-neck Asian," she said. _

'_What a bitch!' I screamed in my mind. 'Who the hell does she think she is?' Hayner gave me a nervous look._

"_Why don't you just leave her alone, Virginia?" he said. Virginia's gaze drew over to Hayner._

"_Back off you asshole," she said. That was it, my meter had reached infinity._

"_He doesn't have to, you slutty bitch," I said. Hayner's jaw dropped wide open as anger wiped across Virginia's face._

"_What did you say?" she yelled at me. I just raised my eyebrow._

"_You heard me," I said in reply. Virginia looked as if she was going to murder me, but coming to my rescue was the teacher. He entered the LGI and started walking down the aisle._

"_Alright class! Take a seat in the first four rows please!" he ordered as he walked up to the stage. Virginia gave me an angry stare before walking to the fourth row from the front. She slouched into one of the seats with her group following her. I sighed and slid down my seat. I looked over at Hayner whose eyes were wide with surprise._

"_What?" I asked. He shook his head. Nothing. I just never heard you swear like that," he said with a nervous laugh. I decided to give a faint laugh._

"_Yeah, well, I've had time," I said. From now on, I was calling Virginia's group the Club of Royal Bitches._

_**End of Flashback 1 **_

I walked swiftly through the busy streets. It had rained earlier this morning, so it was a little slippery on account that it was still winter. _(N/E: Now, I know that it's supposed to NOT snow in Los Angeles, but hey, this _is_ a fan fiction after all. I'm going past the laws of… hemispheric physics... whatever. XD) _I jolted my backpack up on my shoulder since it was starting to fall off. I smiled to myself.

I was finally getting better at the stage. My entire reason for being here was to be able to perform and get the best applause from the audience… and prove to everyone that I'm not crazy.

_**Flashback 2**_

"_Lenne-sama has such an amazing voice," I heard Namine say. She was watching a tape of the recent show of Mika Lights Stage. She lay on the floor, staring dreamily at the screen. She rolled over onto her back, now looking at the screen upside-down. "I wish _I _could sing like that." I laughed lightly to myself and I dried the last dish. I put the dish in the cabinet and walked out to see Namine. I smiled as I leaned against the door frame. My smile suddenly faded, and I looked down._

"_I… I'll be going… again next week," I said. Namine blinked and became wide-eyed. She sat up on her knees and soon started to get up._

"_You mean, back for try-outs?" she asked. I nodded slightly. Namine's face became full of anger. But you try _every_ year. What makes you think you can get in this time?" she asked. I looked up with her with a firm face. She took a step back, as if she were surprised._

"_You never know what happens," I said as I returned to the kitchen. Namine just stood there, looking down at her feet. Namine and I were best friends since we were kids. We've both admired Mika Lights Stage since we could remember, and I've dreamt of joining my entire life. But since my mother's incident, things have changed._

_---_

_I was on the plane, heading back to Tokyo. I pulled out my red cell phone and went to my phonebook. I selected "Namine" and pressed enter. I held the phone up to my ear, and waited for it to ring. Someone picked up the phone a light voice could be heard._

"_Hello?" she asked._

"_Hey, it's me," I replied._

"_Kairi?" she asked. I nodded, even though she couldn't see._

"_Yeah, it's me," I answered._

"_How are you? Are you okay?" she asked a little worried. I gave a faint laugh._

"_Yeah, of course. I just called to say…" I paused. Namine waited for an answer._

"_Called to say what?" she asked. I bit my lip._

"_I… I'm on my way back," I answered. _

"_Oh… I'm so sorry Kairi," she said, though I could tell that there was a sigh of relief in her voice. I sighed._

"_It's alright. I guess this proves that I'll never be able to get in." I looked out the window and stared. "I'll be back in about an hour. See you then." And with that, I shut my phone._

_---_

_**2 weeks later…**_

_I waited at the park, waiting for Namine to arrive. After seven minutes of waiting, she finally arrived at the park. I got off of the bench as Namine walked up to me. She smiled at me, as I returned the smile._

"_Hey," she said casually. "What was it you wanted to talk about?" I bit my lip. How was I going to tell her._

"_Maybe, you should sit down," I told her. Namine stared at me, with a little worry in her expression, but she took a seat on the bench. I sat down next to her and faced her. There were a few minutes of silence. Namine made a motion with her hands telling me to get to the chase. I took this hint to tell her._

"_I was… accepted." I said. Namine's expression became blank. _

"_Accepted… where?" she asked. I held my breath._

"_Accepted into… Mika Lights stage," I replied. Namine shook her head, throwing the truth away._

"_Kairi, you can't!" she yelled at me. She stood up, looking hurt. I looked down, but slowly stood up._

"_Namine, I have to go," I said. Namine stomped her foot on the ground._

"_No! No, you don't!" she screamed back. I sighed, closing my eyes._

"_Namine, you _have_ to let go of the past. What happened before _won't_ happen to me," I said back. Namine looked offended._

"_You don't know that!" she screamed. Tears began to fill her eyes as she fell to her knees, hugging her shoulders._

"_Namine," I said lightly. She just began to sob right in front of me. It was heart-breaking. And to even let her know that I was leaving in three days. I slid down and knelt beside her, hugging her lightly. "It won't happen to me. I promise."_

"_You're crazy," she whispered. I blinked. "After your mother's incident, you're still set on going." I stared at her, but lightly nodded._

"_It's my dream, Namine. I have to go." Namine finally shook her head, coming to her senses. Her tears stared to dry, but she looked at me._

"_When do you leave?" she asked. I bit my lip, but sighed._

"_Three days." Namine turned away and slowly stood up._

"_Well then, since there's no stopping you, I wish you the best of luck. Though, don't you forget," she said. I stood up, facing her from behind. "That Roxas and I will always think you are crazy for having such a dream," Namine said as she turned around with a faint smile. I could only help but laugh. We always fooled around with my dream, saying that it was crazy. I nodded._

"_Thank you, Namine."_

_**End of Flashback 2**_

I was meeting Sora a little further down the road today, on account that we had gotten in trouble the other day at the newsstand.

"Heh," I said to myself. We always do seem to get into the slightest of situations. Now, Tidus and Wakka walked to school with us. Riku lived right across the street from the school, so he never bothered…

_**Flashback 3 - April 3**__**rd**_

"_Oi!" I yelled as I ran up the sidewalk. Tidus turned his head to look back at me as I ran towards them._

"_Eh, Kairi!" he yelled back. I ran up to them, putting my hands on my knees to catch my breath. Wakka and Sora walked up to me; Tidus already being next to me. I straightened myself up and smiled at them._

"_Well, let's go," I said as I began to walk. Wakka only held out his hand and held me in place. I struggled to walk on, but he wouldn't let me go. I looked up at him with a questioning face. He only smirked at me. I looked over a Sora and Tidus, both with the same look. I backed up to the newsstand. "What's going on?" I asked. Wakka turned around, getting something out of his backpack. My eyes widened, and when he came around to throw something, I quickly ducked. It was a pie! No, not the pie! He threw it, and I dodged… by leaning backwards to make a perfect bridge. The pie soared forward and… into the face of the owner of the newsstand. He was NOT very happy to have that pies presence on his face. I got up and nervously looked at my friends. "Maybe we should meet somewhere else from now on," I suggested while rubbing the back of by head. (N/E: I had NO clue what else to use. It just popped into my head and BAM! I used it. XD)_

_**End of Flashback 3**_

I laughed at all of those days, recalling them as I ran on. And soon enough, I spotted a brunette with spiky hair.

"Omaesan, Sora!" I greeted. Sora returned the greeting with a warm smile and walked up to me.

"Hey, Kairi," he replied. He showed of his perfect teeth in a sweet smile. I noticed that Tidus and Wakka weren't here yet.

"Where's the others?" I questioned. Sora turned around, scanning the area and then turned back to me.

"Not here yet, as it seems," he said. I don't know why or how, but my mind took over.

"Well then, let's get going," I said, starting to walk on ahead. Sora looked surprised.

"Erm, what about," he began, but I waved my hand up in the air.

"They can catch up. We won't be getting that far away from them to see us. Sora ran up in front of me, and faced me while walking backwards. I smiled at him, but to my demise yet again, I slipped. There was a sheet of ice that I ever-so-carefully stepped on and slipped. "Whoa!" I yelled as I started to fall forward. Sora, completely consumed by shock, lunged forward and grabbed me. He grabbed me as if pulling me into a hug. I grabbed his shoulder, looking up to find his wonderful blue eyes searching mine. Our faces were inches apart, and it felt… comforting.

"You know," he breathed from under his breath. "I think you're starting to make a habit of this," he chuckled lightly.

"Well," I began. "What a pleasure it is to be in this habit," I said with a small smile. We stood in our position for a few seconds, and then… our foreheads touched. We listened to each others breathing for a while until our moment was interrupted.

"Sora! Kairi! WAIT!" Both Sora's and my eyes flew open as we quickly separated from each other. We turned around to find Tidus and Wakka running towards us. They soon caught up, panting as if they had run for their lives. They looked up and smiled.

"Sorry we were late," said Wakka. Tidus nudged him.

"Only because your mom wouldn't let you go until you ate the bagel," he smirked. Wakka raised his hands up in defense.

"But I didn't want the bagel!" he yelled. Tidus and Wakka bickered for a few seconds.

"Um, arigatou," I said to Sora. Tidus and Wakka looked up and smirked at each other. They had seen_ both_ of us blushing. Sora itched the back of his head with his left hand.

"No problem," he said, his face filled with embarrassment.

"'Thanks' for what?" pestered Tidus, a smirk wide across his face. My face went completely red. I thought it was going to catch on fire.

"Um…" I began. Man, I was in a dilemma. "'Thanks' for… lending me a notepad," I told. _'Crap,'_ I said in my head. Sora perked up.

"Yeah, that's right. She forgot her notepad for chemistry, and I had an extra," explained Sora. Tidus gave us the 'you're-so-pathetic-a-bunny-could-do-better-with-a-carrot-stuck-up-its-nose' look. _(N/E: I have no clue where I just came up with that. XD)_ He raised an eyebrow at us, but shrugged it off.

"Yeah, right. Whatever," he said. Wakka just stared at us, deciding on whether to take the completely obvious lie, or think the other way.

"You guys get stranger everyday, y'know?" he said as he walked past us with Tidus. Sora and I both gave a sigh of relief as the two passed us. I laughed lightly as I looked at my feet, just thinking. Sora put his hand on my shoulder gently, giving me a sweet smile. Man, he could probably cause Global Warming, cause he was really hot… in _my_ eyes. We started to walk behind the others, laughing as we talked.

* * *

Whoop, whoop! English class. _(N/E: I'll be skipping around with classes from now on. No way I'm doing 9 periods a day. XD)_ I was actually good in this subject. Well, even if I did get straight A's in all of my classes, I actually enjoyed English.

We all took our normal seats, mine being by the window. Sora sat in front of me, Tidus behind me, and Selphie and Dani to my right. Then, our teacher, Mrs. Uika, walked into the room.

"Alright class. Instead of wasting time, I'll be cutting to the chase. You will be assigned a project and a partner. You will have one week to complete this project, enough time for you to do so. You are to study your partner and explain their best quality. Only, you _cannot_ ask _any_ questions about them. You must learn about them yourself _without_ having to ask them questions." I tilted my head to the right, crossing my arms.

'_This oughta be fun,' _'I thought.

"I will now read off partners. Further instructions will follow after," she said. She picked up a list with names, obviously the partners. "Tidus and Selphie…" Selphie had a smile on her face, apparently happy with her partner. And Tidus… he looked a little red. Too red, if you ask me. "Loz and Dani…" I could hear Loz off in the distance.

"I bet her best quality is her 'good bladder,'" he said. I couldn't help but chuckle silently. Mrs. Uika continued reading off names until the only people left were…

"Sora and Kairi. Now," I blushed. Man, I hope my face wasn't as red as it felt. I couldn't tell Sora's expression because, well, his back was facing me. "You are to meet with each other after school, studying each other. And after you think you know their best quality, all you need to do is make a small 12 by 12 poster board. You will give a small presentation of it on April 11th. Remember, you can't ask your partner questions. Most of you will probably wonder what the point of this is, but trust me. You will find out." I pondered for a while, thinking about what this was for. Was it…

Sora turned around to face me with a smile. My mind wandered from my thoughts and were focused on Sora. Wow, I was paired with Sora. A dream come true!

"So," he began. "How will we be meeting each other?" he asked. I put my chin on my fist.

"Well," I said. "You could probably walk home with me to the dorms. I'm sure Rinoa wouldn't mind and I don't either." I said. Sora nodded, apparently agreeing to the idea.

"I'll probably have to call my parents, but I think that'll be okay," he said with a smile. I returned the smile, relieving my hand from my chin. Yikes, Sora was coming home with me tonight. Erm, wait. How the heck was he going to get back home?

"Eh, Sora?" I asked. Sora looked at me with question. "How will you be getting back?" I asked. Sora pondered, scratching his head.

"You know," he said, starting to look up at me. "I didn't think about that." I laughed at him. It was the only thing I could do at the moment. Sora looked at me, surprised. "Hey! It's not my fault. Eh, I'll walk home," he said. My laughing started to fade, as I stared at him.

"Nah, Rinoa and I will drive you back. She has a car," I replied. Sora smiled at me.

"Thanks."

"Not a problem," I said. And with that, the bell rang.

* * *

"Ugh," I moaned. It was chemistry class. If I was going to be an author/performer, why the heck did I need science? Sora poked my shoulder. I lifted my head from my hand, turning to my right. "What?" I asked in a soft whisper. Sora pointed to his notepad, full of notes. I looked at mine. Nothing. "Crap!" I yelled out loud. Mr. Bami looked at me, he glasses were halfway down his nose.

"Ms. Yoshiro, is there something you'd like to share?" he asked. I shook y head nervously.

"No, sir." He glared at me.

"Very well then," he said, returning to his work.

"Sorry, sir," I mumbled as I began to copy the notes. And to my dismay, the bell rang. I moaned as I stood up and grabbed my books.

"I'll let you copy my notes when we head over to your place," said Sora. I smiled up at him.

"Arigatou," I replied. _(N/E: I just realized something. Kairi is the only one from Japan, yet everyone understands Japanese even though they are American. O.o Erm… they all got Rosetta Stone! XD) _He nodded.

* * *

The bell for homeroom rang and we were free! For the rest of the day, that is. And I was walking home with Sora! Well, more like _he_ was walking home with _me_, but I like to say things the other way around. Take that!

I opened my locker, putting all of the books needed into my bag. Once I got everything I needed, I closed my locker, only to find something else.

"Eh, Sora," I said smiling at him. He gave a slight laugh as I but my backpack on my shoulder.

"You ready?" he asked me. I nodded. We walked down the halls and out the doors. We talked the entire way home.

"So, you're telling me that Tidus would be stupid enough to do _that_?" I asked with a short giggle. Sora smiled, putting his hands behind his head.

"Yep, he did. Just drank it and tried to make it come out of his nose," laughed Sora. I shook my head with a smile.

"Who'd ever do that? And with soda?!" I exclaimed. Sora laughed at me.

"Easy. Tidus," he joked. I punched him playfully in the arm. We walked through the streets, and to other people, we probably looked like a couple. Man, I wish they were right!

"So, have you ever been to any of the dorms?" Sora shook his head.

"Nope. I've only seen the outside. I've never actually been inside one before," he replied. I smiled. I wondered how he would react to them.

"Hey, I have a quick question." Sora looked at me. I just looked ahead, but then stopped as did Sora. I turned to face him, giving a strange look. "What the heck is greb?" Sora gave me a stare.

"A… greb?" he asked. I nodded. He gave me a smirk.

"Let me guess, someone called you that?" he asked. I gave him a 'how-the-hell-did-you-know-that' look. He grinned. "A greb is a person who is fun to be with, duh!" _(N/E: I did NOT make this up, I swear. XD) _I looked at him strangely.

'_Must be stereotypes or something,'_ I thought to myself. I nodded, trying to let him know I was paying attention, even though I wasn't. I didn't quite get it. "And what are you?" I asked. Sora smiled brightly.

"A greb," he replied. I couldn't help but laugh. _(N/E: go to urbandictionary (dot) com and you'll see. :o)_

'_A person who's fun to be around with, huh?'_ I thought to myself. I laughed lightly. Sora looked at me.

"What's so funny?" he asked. I looked forwards, continuing to walk.

"I'm not… a very fun person," I replied. Sora stared at me, his eyes filled with concern. He shook his head.

"You're wrong," he said. I looked up, shocked. What was he saying?

What?" I asked. I was never really the fun one of the group. I always just went with the flow, nothing really interesting about me. What did he mean? Sora's eyes searched through mine.

"Kairi, you are a wonderful person. You really are. And no matter what you say, you'll always be you. And you are fun to be with. I'd rather hang out with you than any other person." I looked into his deep, blue eyes. They showed some hints of sadness in his eyes, but also with hope. I was shocked. No one had ever said that to me before. And without thinking, I hugged him. I wrapped my left arm around his neck, the other around his waist. I wasn't thinking, just pulling him into an embrace. It felt… comforting. And to my surprise, Sora's shock wasn't that great. He wrapped his arms around me, keeping me in the embrace. And the thing is, I liked it. I think he liked it too. _(N/E: OMG! Corniness! XD)_

I buried my face into his chest, breathing lightly. Sora gently had his hand on my head, the other on my back. Just being in his arms seemed to relieve every nerve in my body, and I really don't know why.

"Sora," I breathed lightly, the words barely slipping from my mouth. Sora looked down at me. I turned my head so the side was against him. "Thank you." I heard Sora laugh under his breath.

"There is no need to thank me, for I should be thanking you," he said. I smiled, listening to his words, but also became curious. I gently pushed myself away, to where I could see his face.

"Thank me… for what?" I asked. Sora smiled, but also had a hit of sadness in his eyes. But he covered it up with his smile. He put his hands on my shoulders, looking into my eyes.

"'Thank you', for giving me the chance to become friends with such a person," he replied. I swear, I was falling for him even more, if that was possible. I smiled at him, and this smile gave a hint to the entire world of my feelings. I'd be surprised if Sora never took the hint. But I saw him look shocked, but quickly shook it off with yet another one of his perfect smiles. I nodded at him, starting to walk down the sidewalk.

"We should be going. Rinoa will probably be wondering where I am," I said. Sora nodded, starting to walk by my side.

* * *

We walked into the dorms. They were empty. I looked around, but something was missing. Rinoa. I set my bad down in the living room.

"Rinoa!" I called out. There was no answer. I became stressed. "Rinoa!" I yelled again. I searched through all of the rooms, but there was no sign of her. I turned and looked at Sora. He seemed a little worried. I shook my head. "Eh, Sora? Would you mind… taking a walk down to Mika Lights Stage with me?" I asked him. Sora nodded.

"Sure thing. Maybe Rinoa is still at practice?" he suggested. I sure did hope he was right.

We walked out of the dorms, heading over to Mika Lights Stage. The dorms were just a few turns away from the stage, so we'd get there pretty quickly. There was an awkward silence between Sora and I as we walked through the streets. I was panicking the entire time.

"I wonder if she's alright," I said aloud. Sora looked at me concerned.

"Don't worry, Kairi. I'm sure she's alright," he said. He was worried about me, but also about Rinoa. He really _did_ are, didn't he?

"I know, but…" I looked up. Memories of the past flooded through my mind. It was so painful. "I can't just help it. If anything were to happen to her…" That's it. Rinoa was not only my friend, but my guardian as well. My replacement of a mother. She also acted like an older sister. I _needed_ her by my side. That's one of the things that keeps me together nowadays. I used to be a complete mess until I came here and found her.

Sora placed his hand on my shoulder. I stopped in my tracks as we stepped in front of the stage. I started to run towards the stage, Sora running behind me. We reached the doors and I didn't hesitate to open them.

Sora and I ran through the corridors until we reached the practice room. I opened the doors, stepping inside. And there was Rinoa, along Auron with some crew members. Auron was standing next to Rinoa as they looked at the trapeze. I wave of relief cast over me as I smiled.

"Eh, Rinoa!" I yelled. Rinoa turned around, smiling at me.

"Omaesan, Kairi," she said. Rinoa was wearing a green sports top which ended right above her stomach. She was also wearing matching shorts that cut in her middle thigh. And all together, her hair was in a ponytail. From here, she looked like a model… in sportswear, but also looked like a professional performer.

I smiled at her, but my smile soon faded as I looked up at the trapeze set. A male performer was working on the trapeze, showing a maneuver. It looked dark and devilish, sending off a deadly vibe. I shuddered as he flipped through the air violently. He soon flipped of the trapeze and landed next to Rinoa. I studied him. He had short blonde hair and was wearing black pants along with a black, sleeveless shirt. He stood up, showing his face. He had blue eyes and a scar between his eyes. I gasped as his face came into full view. Rinoa's face saddened as she looked down at her feet.

"Kairi," said Auron. I never looked away from this treacherous man. Auron took a deep breath, completely shattered by this moment. "This is Seifer Agitou… your mother's ex-partner."

* * *

_**Author's Note:**__ Ooh! Cliffy! XD Anyways, longest chapter so far! Was 20 pages in my documents. XD Anyways, so sorry for the late upload. I got done with it, but I forgot to upload it. Whoops! Anyways, yeah. So, I tried to base this chapter off of flashbacks from the past and previous days, and also some Sora and Kairi action. And I also realized that once the bad guy strikes, he always comes back for the sequel. So I brainstormed in my head who the bad guy could be. And I didn't want it to be an original villain, yet halfway original. And BAM! Seifer flew into my mind. XD So I used him. I also planned on creating this a suspenseful chapter, so I named my chapter "Social Status: I'm a… what?" because it leads to one of the most suspenseful parts of this chapter… and then to the other suspenseful one, so yeah. :o And in a few more chapters, I will bewilder your minds magnificently! :o Expect a few things in the upcoming chapters:_

_**1. **__Rinoa's new partner  
__**2.**__ The vacation ending  
__**3.**__ A new character in which becomes Kairi's close friend  
__**4.**__ Rinoa's love life  
__**5.**__ Kairi's first performance  
__**6.**__ A hard challenge for Kairi  
__**7.**__ A dramatic death_

_Which one will be in the next chapter? O.o_

_**Kadaj:**__ You have_ got_ to stop doing that.  
__**Nik-chan:**__ Doing what?  
__**Kadaj:**__ That! That lame suspense killer promo thing.  
__**Nik-chan:**__ *Raises eyebrow*  
__**Ka-chan:**__ You're going to be giving me a love life?  
__**Nik-chan:**__ Yes…  
__**Ka-chan:**__ … I swear, if it's Cloud…  
__**Nik-chan:**__ WHAT?! Cloud with you? No way, he's MINE! Back off!  
__**Ka-chan:**__ … I don't want him. I want Kadaj!  
__**Kadaj:**__ And I want a banana right now.  
__**Nik-chan:**__ GAH!!! *runs off with Cloud*  
__**Kadaj:**__ Please review or I'll shoot your guinea pig.  
__**Ka-chan:**__ Kadaj, you are so sexy. Rawr! XD_


End file.
